By Paul Virgo
ROME, August 8 - Italy coach Marcello Lippi named
some fresh faces in his squad for Wednesday's friendly against
Switzerland in Basel but resisted calls for a major shake up
after his side's poor Confederations Cup showing.
Lippi has called up three uncapped players -- Juventus
midfielder Claudio Marchisio and Genoa defenders Salvatore
Bocchetti and Domenico Criscito.
Udinese playmaker Gaetano D'Agostino and Cagliari goalkeeper
Federico Marchetti are back in the fold after making their
international debuts in the world champions' 3-0 win over
Northern Ireland in a friendly in June.
Udinese striker Antonio Di Natale returns after missing the
end of last season with a knee injury he suffered in Italy's 2-0
win in Montenegro in a March World Cup qualifier.
Otherwise the rest of the squad is made up of members of the
Confederations Cup expedition in June, when Italy were knocked
out at the group stage with defeats by Egypt and Brazil.
The selection is also confirmation Lippi intends to keep
using a core of players from his 2006 World Cup-winning squad,
some of whom look past their best.
Eight of those players are in the squad, including captain
Fabio Cannavaro, who will break Paolo Maldini's record of 126
appearances if he plays on Wednesday to become the Azzurri's
all-time most capped player.
As expected, World Cup winners Daniele De Rossi, Gennaro
Gattuso and Luca Toni have been rested.
Italy will be back in competitive action next month, when
they take on Georgia in Tbilisi and host Bulgaria in Turin on
Sept. 5 and 9 respectively in Group Eight World Cup qualifiers.
Lippi's men lead the standings with 14 points from six
matches, one point more than Ireland with a game in hand.
Squad:
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Federico Marchetti
(Cagliari);
Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Fabio Cannavaro
(Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito
(Genoa), Fabio Grosso (Olympique Lyon), Davide Santon (Inter
Milan), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)
Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Gaetano D'Agostino
(Udinese), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Angelo Palombo
(Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan);
Forwards: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino
(Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella
(Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal)