ROTTERDAM (Reuters) - Italy's Luigi Di Biagio exorcised one ghost by scoring his spot-kick in Thursday's Euro 2000 semifinal shootout victory against the Dutch.

Now he can see off another by helping the Italians beat the French in Sunday's final. It was against the French that Di Biagio missed his penalty in a shootout to decide their quarter-final tie at the 1998 World Cup.

He could not bring himself to take penalties at club level for the next year and had told Italy coach Dino Zoff that he did not want to take one here.

But at the end of Thursday's war of attrition in Amsterdam, he stepped up and blasted Italy's first penalty into the top right hand corner of Edwin van der Sar's goal to set his side on the road to victory.

"A lot of my team mates had cramp, the coach gave me a little glance and I understood that I had to go up," Di Biagio said. "I was afraid, to be honest, but fortunately it went well." He said he had asked to take the first kick.

"It was best to get it out of the way," he said. "It was decided at the last minute. I don't know where I found the courage to take it."

With Juventus midfielders Antonio Conte and Gianluca Zambrotta out of Sunday's final in Rotterdam through injury and suspension, Di Biagio's role as the lungs of Italy's midfield will be vital.

The shaven-headed midfielder, as gentle and quietly-spoken off the pitch as he is aggressive on it, is unlikely to let Zoff down.

Two years ago, he stepped up his game just as Italy reached the World Cup and although he missed his spot-kick he was lauded as the best player to emerge from a disappointing Italian showing.

A year later though, Di Biagio's future seemed uncertain. After joining Inter Milan less than 48 hours before the start of the Serie A season, he seemed destined to spend his time on the bench at a team boasting Vladimir Jugovic, Paulo Sousa and Benoit Cauet in the centre of the pitch.

But Di Biagio muscled his way into the first team and had an excellent season playing the tough guy alongside the more refined Clarence Seedorf.

He was in and out of Zoff's squad during the qualifiers for Euro 2000 but when he was given a place in Italy's first round match against Sweden he made the most of it, scoring the opener in a 2-0 win.

Another goal on Sunday, from the penalty-spot or not, and Di Biagio's recovery from his 1998 trauma would be complete.