Italy’s 2010 World Cup Provisional Squad: Rossi In, Totti Out For Lippi

Villareal forward Giuseppe Rossi has been named to Marcello Lippi’s provisional World Cup squad for the defending world champions, Italy.

The American-born Italian was the surprise inclusion in an Azzurri squad which was more notable for its exclusions: Internazionale’s Mario Balotelli; Sampdoria’s Antonio Cassano; Juventus’s Nicola Legottaglie; Roma’s Luca Toni, Simone Perrotta, and most notably Francesco Totti.

Totti, the Roma captain, has been the subject of much speculation after intimating earlier this year that he would be willing to come back into the Azzurri set-up. Over the last few months, however, Totti has had trouble gaining a consistent starting position for Claudio Ranieri with the Giallorossi, with a violent sending-off in last week’s Coppa Italia final also serving as a point of criticism.

Roma, the second place team in Italy, has only one player in the side: midfielder Daniele De Rossi, a hold-over from the 2006 World Cup-winner team.

Other members of the 2006 team named to the provisional squad: Gianluigi Buffon, Fabo Cannavaro, Fabio Grosso, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, Gennaro Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo, Alberto Gilardino and Vincenzo Iaquinta - a number of whom have had down years in the Italian Serie A.

The team will begin their training camp in Sestriere on May 23, by which time Lippi is to have trimmed this squad by an additional three players ahead of the June 1 deadline to have final, 23-man rosters submitted.

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)
Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli)
Federico Marchetti (Cagliari)
Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo)

Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa)
Leonardo Bonucci (Bari)
Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus)
Mattia Cassani (Palermo)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
Domenico Criscito (Genoa)
Fabio Grosso (Juventus)
Christian Maggio (Naples)
Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan)

Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)
Antonio Candreva (Juventus)
Andrea Cossu (Cagliari)
Daniele De Rossi (Roma)
Gennaro Gattuso (Milan)
Claudio Marchisio (Juventus)
Riccardo Monotolivo (Fiorentina)
Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria)
Simone Pepe (Udinese)
Andrea Pirlo (Milan)

Marco Borriello (Milan)
Antonio Di Natale (Udinese)
Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina)
Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus)
Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria)
Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli)
Giuseppe Rossi (Villareal)