AS widely expected, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli and Giuseppe Signori, three of the most famous names in contemporary Italian football, have been omitted from the 22 man Italian squad for next month's European Championship finals in England.

Italian coach Arrigo Sacchi yesterday confirmed their exclusion when naming his squad at a news conference in Rome. Both Signori and Baggio have had injury interrupted seasons, while Vialli effectively ruled himself out of the Italian team last autumn with an outspoken rejection of overtures from Sacchi.

Although the exclusion of Baggio, Vialli and Signori has seemed probable for months now, it was always possible that the good form shown by all three in the final stages of the season might have induced a last minute change of mind by Sacchi.

Vialli has been a key figure in Juventus' impressive run into next week's European Cup final against Ajax Amsterdam, while Baggio made a limited but telling contribution to AC Milan's league title win. Signori has ended up as the league's leading goalscorer for the third time in the past four seasons. He scored in Lazio's 2-0 away win against Torino on Sunday, the last day of the season, to take his tally to 24.

Commenting on his controversial decisions, Sacchi yesterday told The Irish Times: "I've had to make painful decisions and omit several players I respect and admire such as Signori ... but I've chosen players capable of fitting into my concept of total soccer.

"As for Vialli, well he excluded himself, while my assessment of Baggio was based on his league performances and on his form over the entire season".

Of the 22 chosen by Sacchi, only three striker Enrico Chiesa of Sampdoria, mid fielder Diego Fuser of Lazio and defender Moreno Torricelli of Juventus have not been regular team members of the past two seasons. Undoubtedly, the most intriguing call up is the uncapped Chiesa, the revelation of the Italian season with 22 goals to hid credit.

Authoritative judges such as former AC Milan coach Fabio Capello have gone on record to say that Chiesa will be one of the "big surprises" of next month's finals and that his outstanding ability could more than compensate, for the absence of Baggio, Vialli and Signori.

Nor is Chiesa the only big gun in the potential Italian attack which also includes Parma's Gianfranco Zola, Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli and Lazio striker Pier Luigi Casiraghi, while the Juventus playmaker Alessandro Del Piero is also in the squad, albeit listed as a midfielder.

In midfield, Sacchi has rewarded 32 year old Roberto Donadoni for his excellent season with champions Milan. Two weeks ago Donadoni was about to pack his bags for a transfer to the New York Metrostars team in the recently inaugurated Major League Soccer when he received a phone call from Sacchi telling him to leave himself free for the month of June.

Demetrio Albertini of AC Milan, Roberto Di Matteo of Lazio and Angelo Di Livio of Juventus are likely to be the men to line out alongside Donadoni in midfield.

In defence, Sacchi has sprung only a minor surprise with the inclusion of the once capped Torricelli who will probably be kept out of the first team by a back four comprising Ciro Ferrara of Juventus, Alessandro Costacuita, Paolo Maldini both of AC Milan and Luigi Apolloni of Parma.

In club terms, the squad is surprisingly not dominated by champions AC Milan who provide only four players. Juventus provide seven players, Parma five, Lazio three, Sampdoria, AS Roma and Fiorentina one each.

Spanish manager Javier Clemente, a man who seems to relish going against public opinion, remained true to form yesterday by resisting pressure to pick two teenagers in his squad.

There was no place for 18 year old Real Madrid striker Raul Gonzalez or for Barcelona's 19 year old midfielder Ivan de la Pena. The only surprise name in the team is that of Jorge Otero, whose work at the heart of the Valencia defence has helped the team to second place in the league.

Veteran goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta, probably facing his last tournament at international level, keeps his place, while the second substitute goalkeeper will be Atletico's Jose Molina. Molina made his debut in last month's friendly against Norway, not in goal but as a surprisingly skilful striker, a role given to him by Clemente because of injury problems.

Germany coach Beiti Vogts produced no surprises when he named his squad yesterday but said he knew who might cause major shocks in England - Croatia.

Vogts said he was concerned about the physical condition of some players after a hard season: "I was shocked by the state of some players last weekend. I am happy that the league championship is over so that we have a bit more time for players to recover.

Vogts was forced to make a late change just minutes before he announced the squad at a news conference. Third choice goalkeeper Stefan Klos from Dortmund withdrew with a broken hand and was replaced by Werder Bremen's Oliver Reck.