Gilardino gets Azzurri nod
Sunday 29 August, 2004
Marcello Lippi has named the squad for the two World Cup qualifiers and given his first senior cap to Olympics heroes Daniele De Rossi and Alberto Gilardino.
Parma hitman Gilardino and Roma midfielder De Rossi were both expected to break into the top team after their exploits in the European Under-21 Championships and the Athens Olympics, earning the trophy and a Bronze medal respectively.
The Coach has also given Luca Toni the nod after the Palermo man impressed during the 2-0 friendly defeat in Iceland.
Alessandro Del Piero has returned to the squad after he was dropped for the Iceland game due to a lack of form, but the injured Christian Vieri and Antonio Cassano do not make the grade.
However, despite being suspended for the Norway game and injured through most of the summer, Francesco Totti is included.
Italy will open their 2006 World Cup account against Norway on September 4 and then welcome Moldova to Palermo's Stadio Barbera on September 8.
Italy squad:
G: Buffon (Juventus), Pelizzoli (Roma);
D: Bonera (Parma), Favalli (Inter), Ferrari (Roma), Legrottaglie (Juventus), Materazzi (Inter), Nesta (Milan), Oddo (Lazio), Zauri (Lazio)
M: Ambrosini (Milan), Blasi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Diana (Sampdoria), Fiore (Valencia), Gattuso (Milan), Pirlo (Milan), Zambrotta (Juventus)
F: Corradi (Valencia), Del Piero (Juventus), Gilardino (Parma), Miccoli (Juventus), Toni (Palermo), Totti (Roma)