To fans of Calcio it's still as vivid as ever: The vision of Fabio Cannavaro lifting the World Cup aloft remains the proudest of Italian memories in a difficult recent history. But with one year to go before the 19th World Cup Final, Cannavaro and his Azzurri have a lot of hard work to do if the national team are to avoid an embarrassing fate in their defence of the trophy.

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Fiorentina's Pantaleo Corvino is known to be one of the best sporting directors in all of Italian calcio. Over the years Corvino has discovered a wealth of talent, including Fabrizio Miccoli, Valeri Bojinov, Mirko Vucinic, Christian Ledesma, and Stevan Jovetic just to name a few. He is also responsible for bringing players like Sebastien Frey, Luca Toni, Adrian Mutu, and Alberto Gilardino to Florence.

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Italy and New Zealand squared off in their final tune-up for the tournament at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville, about 45 minutes from the U.S. base camp. There were plenty of goals at both ends, with the Kiwis taking the lead three times before finally surrendering 4-3 after Vincenzo Iaquinta scored his second of the night in the 68th minute.

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Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Palermo), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray) Defenders: 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: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan) Forwards: Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Pepe (Udinese) Click to continue reading...

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). Click to continue reading...

Marcelo Lippi finalized his Azzurri squad for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the big news is that Inter's teenage sensation Davide Santon. The youngster played mostly left back for Inter but is seen as a player who can play on both sides.

Three red-hot attacking players with breakout seasons in the 08-09 Serie A campaign were left off the list in favor of more veteran Azzurri players.

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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. Click to continue reading...

God bloody darnit!! :(((((((( The Azzurri's first day in Austria started in the worst possible way Monday: captain Fabio Cannavaro picked up a knock as he challenged the ball with teammate Giorgio Chiellini, and the late prognosis indicates what everyone had been fearing but dared not to think about: ligament damage to the left ankle, Cannavaro [. Click to continue reading...