Rossi and Boriello omitted

Goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu, right-back Mattia Cassani, midfielder Andrea Cossu and forwards Giuseppe Rossi and Marco Borriello are the five Italy players to miss out on Marcello Lippi's final 23-man FIFA World Cup squad.

Lippi does include nine members of the squad that won the Azzurri's fourth World Cup in Germany four years ago but there is no place for veteran attackers such as Alessandro Del Piero and Francesco Totti.

"I think there is plenty of competition in attack," said ACF Fiorentina striker Alberto Gilardino, who does make the cut. "We have players who scored many goals this season like [Antonio] Di Natale and [Giampaolo] Pazzini or players with great pace and strength like [Vincenzo] Iaquinta. Even if we don't have players like [Wayne] Rooney, [Didier] Drogba or [Diego] Milito, we can compete with any team."

Italy face Mexico and Switzerland in pre-tournament friendlies on 3 and 5 June before kicking off their campaign against Paraguay on 14 June. They will also face fellow Group F members New Zealand and Slovakia in their bid to retain their crown.

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (SSC Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari Calcio).

Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa CFC), Leonardo Bonucci (AS Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa CFC), Christian Maggio (SSC Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan).

Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (ACF Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (UC Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese Calcio), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan).

Forwards: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese Calcio), Alberto Gilardino (ACF Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (UC Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (SSC Napoli).