Italy coach Marcello Lippi remained true to his word today by rewarding the players who helped the Azzurri to the World Cup finals with a place in his provisional squad for South Africa.
There is no place for Francesco Totti, despite his form for Scudetto challengers Roma and widespread speculation he would be given the chance to revive his international career after being absent since the World Cup triumph in 2006.
Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi was included as a seventh striker at the expense of Juventus defender Nicola Legrottaglie and is the only foreign-based player in the squad, but there is no place for Roma forward Luca Toni or Juventus veteran Alessandro Del Piero.
Toni had hoped that his loan move from Bayern Munich to Roma would help him secure a place in Lippi’s squad.
Del Piero, meanwhile, had an indifferent season in Serie A and will not travel to the finals, bringing an end to his run of appearances at major finals for his country.
The list will be reduced to 23 players by June 1st.
Italy squad:Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo); Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa); Andrea Pirlo (Milan), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Simone Pepe (Udinese); Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Marco Borriello (Milan), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria).