Soccer: Napoli bids for Milan boost

Table- topper pits Denis, Lavezzi agst Ronaldinho, Kaka

by Denis Greenan. (ANSA) - Rome, October 30 - Napoli's latest Argentine hero German Denis hopes he'll have more chances to persuade new Argentina coach Diego Maradona to add to his four caps in Sunday's top of the table clash against Brazil-heavy AC Milan. ''I'll be looking to score more to press my case for a recall,'' said the 27-year-old whose hat-trick against Reggina sent Napoli to the pinnacle of Serie A for the first time since Maradona's glory years in the 1980s. Napoli are on 20 points alongside Udinese while Milan, who beat Siena thanks to a Kaka penalty, are one point below them in third place on 19. Denis, nicknamed 'El Tanque' (The Tank) for his powerful physique, sent the Napoli faithful crazy with his first three goals at the San Paolo, one set up by Napoli's 23-year-old Argentine star Ezequiel Lavezzi. On Thursday Denis, who has made no secret of his devout Catholic faith, was expected to pay a return visit to the popular Madonna di Pompeii shrine in his adopted city, where he celebrated his first two UEFA Cup goals last month. ''I find a lot of my energy in my religious faith,'' said Denis, who wears devotional pictures of the patron saint of speedy solutions, Saint Expeditus, under his shin-pads. The Italian press are billing Napoli's visit to Milan as Argentina against Brazil. As well as the attacking pair of Denis and Lavezzi - who has been tapped by fans to resurrect Maradona's retired No.10 shirt - Napoli have 23-year-old goalkeeper Nicolas Navarro who will be expected to parry the threat of Ronaldinho, Pato and Kaka. Holding midfielder Emerson, the Brazil veteran, is also expected to be called on to ward off the incursions of the rampant Napoli forwards, including Slovak star Marek Hamsik who set up two of Denis's goals against Reggina. Milan struggled to beat a gritty Siena Wednesday and had Pippo Inzaghi to thank for an early goal and a dubious penalty decision that Kaka' put away in the 2-1 win. The win put Milan ahead of city rivals and three-time straight Serie A champions Inter Milan, by 19 to 18 points, for the first time in two years. Udinese beat fellow surprise package Catania in Sicily to join Napoli at the top. They host Genoa (6th) on Sunday. INTER DOWN TO 4TH BUT MOURINHO UPBEAT. Inter dropped to 4th with their second straight goalless draw, at Fiorentina, who clung to their coat-tails on 17 points in 5th. Jose Mourinho's underperforming side will be looking for easy points at bottom side Reggina in the early match on Saturday. The Portuguese coach defended his players after ''a tough match'' in Florence and said he ''wasn't interested in an October trophy, only the one in May''. Juventus, up to 9th thanks to a 2-1 win at Bologna, host struggling Roma in a match that was long billed a clash of the giants but looks very different this year. Roma, 15th on 7 points, played only five minutes of their Wednesday match against fellow strugglers Sampdoria before the Olimpico was flooded out. Lazio, who won 2-1 at Chievo to move into seventh place on 16 points, the same as Genoa, face Catania who are one point below them in 8th place. Fiorentina travel to Siena (13th) while Atalanta, who dropped to 10th with a 2-1 loss at Torino, host Lecce (12th). Sampdoria (16th) entertain Torino (14th), Palermo (13th) host Chievo (18th) and Bologna, who dropped to 19th after the Juve defeat, travel to Cagliari (17th). Wednesday's results widened the gap between the top 11 to seven points but the top nine are still separated by just five. photo: 'El Tanque' celebrates third goal against Reggina