Rossi left out of Italy Cup squad

World Cup guide - Italy

Former Manchester United striker Giuseppe Rossi was one of five players left out as Italy manager Marcelo Lippi named his final 23-man World Cup squad.

Rossi, now at Villarreal, was the only non-Italian based player in the initial squad and was expected to make the cut.

AC Milan striker Marco Borriello, keeper Salvatore Sirigu, defender Mattia Cassani and midfielder Andrea Cossu were the others to miss out.

The holders are in Group F with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia.

Lippi had already trimmed his squad to 28, with World Cup-winning full-back Fabio Grosso among those to miss out.

Grosso hit the winning spot-kick when Italy beat France in the 2006 final.

Roma forward Francesco Totti also failed to win a recall despite being expected to come out of retirement to feature.

The 33-year-old quit the national team after helping Italy win the 2006 World Cup but there had been speculation he could return.

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Bayern Munich's Luca Toni, Italy's main striker in 2006 and at Euro 2008, was left out of the initial 30, with Udinese's Antonio Di Natale likely to lead the Azzurri attack.

Rossi, born in New Jersey, was a member of the Parma youth team before moving to Old Trafford in 2005, however he only scored one goal in a spell in English football that included a loan stint at Newcastle.

A successful loan spell at Parma was then followed by a £6.6m move to Villarreal, since when he forced his way into the Italian national team, notably scoring twice against the United States in the 2009 Confederations Cup.

The Italians begin their campaign against Paraguay in Cape Town on 14 June.

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Italy squad:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari),

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

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

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

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