By Chris Wright
Italy coach Marcello Lippi has confirmed the 30 players he intends to select his final 23-man World Cup squad from after naming his provisional squad for this summer’s tournament in South Africa.
Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni (currently on loan at Roma) has been omitted from the preliminary squad, after the 32-year-old’s poor showing in the Azzuri’s last major tournament (Toni failed to hit the net once at Euro 2008).
Sampdoria ace Antonio Cassano has also failed to make the grade, following calls that his form this season should earn him a call-up.
Roma lynch-pin Daniele De Rossi makes the cut after missing out on a training camp last week due to domestic cup commitments, but his teammate Francesco Totti has been left out of the proceedings despite offering to come out of international retirement for the World Cup.
* * * * *
The squad in full…
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirugu (Palermo).
Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Salvatore Bocchetti, Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Leonardi Bonnucci (Bari).
Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo, Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Mauro Camoranesi, Claudio Marchisio, Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Ricardo Montolivio (Fiorentina), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari).
Forwards: Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Guiseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Marco Borriello (Milan), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria).
MORE:
Holland’s provisional World Cup squad
Brazil’s provisional World Cup squad
England’s provisional World Cup squad
Argentina’s provisional World Cup squad
France’s provisional World Cup squad
Spain’s provisional World Cup squad