Albertini played poorly in Italy's opening match against Chile and was replaced in the centre of midfield by AS Roma's Luigi Di Biagio for the second game against Cameroon.

Albertini, seemingly a permanent fixture in the heart of the Italian side, was shunted sideways into the left midfield berth against the Africans and was substituted in the second half after another lacklustre display.

``Demetrio's obviously not totally happy,'' Maldini told reporters yesterday. ``No one likes losing their place in the first team and he knows that the left mid-field slot is not the one he usually takes. But he doesn't seem too upset to me. He has the experience and the temperament to bounce back.''

Albertini's loss of form follows a difficult season at Milan, who slumped to a mid-table finish in the Italian League and failed toqualify for Europe.Milan's crisis appears to have cast something of a shadow over the club's Italian `Holy Trinity' -- Albertini, Maldini and centreback Alessandro Costacurta.