Italy has winnowed their squad down to 23 players for the Confederations Cup and here's what it looks like:
Goalkeepers (3): Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray);
Defenders (8): Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Gianluca Zambrotta (Milan) Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Davide Santon (Inter), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Nicola Legrottaglie (Juventus), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool);
Midfielders (6): Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan);
Forwards (6): Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Pepe (Udinese).

U.S. Men's National Team players speak to ussoccer.com following a training session at Pilditch Stadium in Pretoria ahead of their 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup opener against Italy. The game from Loftus Versfeld will be broadcast live on EPSN and Telefutura beginning at 2:55 p.m. ET on June 15. Fans can follow along with ussoccer.

The FIFA Disciplinary Committee ruled today that Ricardo Clark will only serve a one-match ban following his sending off against Italy. The U.S. team submitted an appeal on Clark's behalf, which included statements from Italian players - including Gattuso - saying they thought the foul only deserved a yellow card.

Marcello Lippi has released a squad for Italy's friendly against Northern Ireland, but the roster is devoid of many of the big names you would expect in the Confederations Cup. That's because he's decided to keep them fresh for the tournament in South Africa, and on Thursday elected to name two teams.

Did you know that every edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup held in a pre-World Cup year has been won by the reigning world champions – who subsequently failed to defend their world title.
To win, or not to win. That is the question ...

Also, highlights from FIFA.com

Members of the FIFA Medical Committee turned up at the team hotel for an unannounced drug test this morning. This a common practice and part of the tournament rules; however, arriving at 7:30 a.m. with a list of eight players to be tested presented one small problem. Since the players didn't know, they did what anyone would do as soon as they woke up .

It's Monday - will the boss really be paying attention? Besides, you can just tell them you are getting prepared for the same schedule in the 2010 FIFA World Cup!
The Official U.S. Soccer Bars will be open and ready to welcome you to watch the U.S. take on Italy for the first time since the 1-1 draw at the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

We spoke earlier of the vuvuzelas, the rather distinct sounding horns carried by the South African soccer faithful. No doubt you heard the cacophony of sounds throughout the broadcasts of the Confederations Cup matches, which bear a tormenting resemblance to the instruments played at matches for our neighbors to the south.

Today's match against Brazil doesn't feel different that any other game in terms of our approach. We go out trying to win every time we step on the field. Clearly it's an important game for us. Realistically, we need a win to stay alive.
The Italy game is behind us. We were frustrated not to get a result, especially since we felt like we were playing very well prior to the red card.

This is the third time the U.S. MNT will have played on June 15, with decidedly different results. The first time out came during the 1998 FIFA World Cup, when the U.S. lost 2-0 to Germany. The second match on this date came at the start of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when the U.S. trounced Barbados by an 8-0 scoreline to establish the largest margin of victory in team history.

We're on the bus to Loftus Versfeld Stadium, and all the talking from the team is done.
To get you ready, here's today edition of Studio 90, which brings you a behind-the-scenes look at the USA's 2-1 win against Honduras, highlights of the USA's goals from previous Confederations Cups, and sound from yesterday's pre-match press conference.

Check out the full photo gallery at ussoccer.com...