AUXERRE LOOKS TO UNKNOWN TALENT TO DOWN AC MILAN

Tuesday, 23 November 2010 23:45

AUXERRE will look to little-known Frederic Sammaritano to topple AC Milan's star-studded team in the Champions League today.

Sammaritano is totally unknown in the world of football compared to Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andrea Pirlo or Robinho, but the tiny winger has been making a name for himself since signing from second division Vannes in January.

At

just 1.62 meters, he will be harder to spot than the 1.92-meter Ibrahimovic, but with Auxerre's main strikers sidelined by injury, coach Jean Fernandez hopes that Sammaritano's trickery can unlock Milan's defence and get the French club back in the race for the last 16.

With Real Madrid comfortably leading Group G with 10 points, Milan, Ajax and Auxerre are scrapping for second place. Though Auxerre is in last place with three points, a win can move it a point ahead of Milan with a game to play. Ajax is in second place with four points and hosts unbeaten Madrid.

'We've got to win in Auxerre, this game is just as important as the matches in the Italian League,' Ibrahimovic, who has won domestic league titles with Ajax, Barcelona and Inter Milan but never claimed Europe's biggest club prize, said.

Sammaritano's journey is the total opposite to Ibrahimovic's. He was released from Nantes four years ago and made his way back through non-league Yzeure, then the third and second divisions with Vannes until he caught Fernandez's eye, who overlooked his small size.

'Ever since I was young, I've been up against it physically, because in modern football today there are a lot of physical players,' Sammaritano said. 'I tried to use my size to my advantage.'

He was the club's fourth-choice signing last summer, after Fernandez failed to persuade either Lille's Ludovic Obraniak, Paris Saint-Germain's Clement Chantome or Lorient's Morgan Amalfitano to join. Fernandez has not regretted it since, but admits that he almost overlooked him.

'He scored two goals in the League Cup, he scored in the Champions League and on his (French) league debut,' Fernandez said. 'We sense that he can score because he's very composed in front of goal.

'At one stage we messed up a bit. We were looking for players who were very athletic, very powerful, but who had no sense of how to play.'