Marcello Lippi, the coach of the holding champions of 2006, has had to replace a number of successful players from the squad which lifted the Jules Rimet trophy in Germany.
There is no place for Totti, who it was thought might return from international retirement, nor Luca Toni, who was so good in ’06 for the Italians.
An interesting fact about this Italian squad is that every player is based in Italy.
Antonio Di Natale will instead lead the line for Italy, who have a good mix of experienced players in this squad.
Italy have also achieved a favourable draw, which should see them make at least the round of 16, as they play in Group F, along with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia.
Italy 23 Man Squad – FIFA World Cup 2010
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari),
Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)
Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Forwards: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli)
