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Italian national team coach Marcelo Lippi also announced the list of 23 players who will travel to the World Cup. Four of them represent the "Palermo" club.
The most prolific player left out of the team is Cristiano Lucarelli, the top scorer of the 2004/05 Serie A, who lost his place in the national team to "Milan" veteran Filippo Inzaghi and "Udinese" star Vincenzo Iaquinta.
There was also no place in the national team for Madrid "Real" forward Antonio Cassano, but it is not a big surprise as the player had a very difficult season which practically deprived the young forward opportunities to play for the national team. As it was known earlier, "Monaco" forward Christian Vieri will also miss the championship due to a knee operation.
M. Lippi included the main goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon in the squad, dispelling rumors that the Italian could be removed from the national team because of a betting scandal. The battle for the third goalkeeper position was won by "Livorno" goalkeeper Marco Amelia, who displaced the not so successful Morgan De Sanctis from the team this year.
Italian national team composition:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus) Angelo Peruzzi (Lazio) Marco Amelia (Livorno)
Defenders: Cristian Zaccardo (Palermo) Alessandro Nesta (Milan) Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus) Gianluca Zambrotta (Juventus) Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan) Fabio Grosso (Palermo) Massimo Oddo (Lazio) Andrea Barzagli (Palermo)
Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo (Milan) Gennaro Gattuso (Milan) Daniele De Rossi (Roma) Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus) Simone Perrotta (Roma) Simone Barone (Palermo)
Forwards: Luca Toni (Fiorentina) Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) Francesco Totti (Roma) Alberto Gilardino (Milan) Filippo Inzaghi (Milan) Vincenzo Iaquinta (Udinese)
