English town looks to Perrotta for World Cup double

Italian midfielder Simone Perrotta reacts after missing a chance to score during his country's World Cup 2006 semi-final against Germany in Dortmund, July 4. Perrotta was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, which is situated seven miles (11km) north-east of Manchester in northern England, as was England's 1966 hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst.

A humble town in the north of England could be celebrating a World Cup double on Sunday when Italy face France in the Berlin final.

Italy midfielder Simone Perrotta was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, which is situated seven miles (11km) north-east of Manchester, northern England, as was England's 1966 hat-trick hero Geoff Hurst.

Perrotta's parents Francesco, who ran a pub in the town, and Annamaria emigrated to England in the early 1960s.

The family then returned to Italy in 1982, when Perrotta was just six, the year the Azzurri last won the World Cup.

"I have vague memories of England as a little boy," the 28-year-old Roma player told The Sun newspaper on Thursday.

"I remember the park and the garden and I also remember the school where I used to play football in the playground with my friends.

"Although my parents are Italian and I've spent most of my life in Italy, I still feel I have a little bit of England in me.

"I was born there and I spent five years there. I only wish I could speak better English because, after so many years, Ive forgotten how.

"I could have played for England and I remember my friends and family said I could, but there was no doubt in my mind I wanted to play for Italy."

Father Francesco said he remembered teaching his son how to play football on local parks.

"I took him to a park near Oldham," said Perrotta senior.

"He would watch me play for a local team called Jolly Milan, a team of Italians. That's why he wanted to play the game - it's in his blood."

The town, with a population of just 43,000, is ready to mark Perrotta's place in the World Cup final if the Italians win the trophy.

"We already have one World Cup winner in Sir Geoff Hurst so it would be great to have another one," town mayor Margaret Sidebottom told the Daily Telegraph.

"It's exciting to have a home-grown boy playing in the World Cup final. It doesn't matter that he isn't playing for England."