Saturday 22 March 2008

Azzurri: Donadoni sticks with trusted lineup

There are no surprises in Roberto Donadoni's 21-man squad for Italy's friendly game against fellow UEFA Euro 2008 contenders Spain in Elche on Wednesday.

Juventus pair Gianluigi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi have returned to the squad after missing February's 3-1 win against Portugal in Zurich due to injuries.

However, Bianconeri captain Alessando Del Piero, Sampdoria's Antonio Cassano and AC Milan's Alberto Gilardino were again excluded from an attack which includes Marco Borriello and Luca Toni, the leading scorers in Serie A and the Bundesliga respectively.


The squad will gather in Milan on Monday where they will train before flying out to Alicante on Tuesday for the match, which kicks off at the Luis Valero stadium in Elche at 2100 (UK time).

After visiting Spain, the Italian Football Federation have confirmed that the Azzurri will face Belgium in Florence on 30 May in the last warm-up game ahead of the finals.

The FIGC also announced that there will be no further discussion about Roberto Donadoni's contract, which expires in July, until after the end of the tournament in Switzerland and Austria.

The Spaniards, who are on an impressive run of 16 unbeaten matches, named a 22-man squad earlier today with coach Luis Aragones again not picking Real Madrid legend Raul Gonzalez.

Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Livorno).
Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Fabio Grosso (Lyon), Marco Materazzi (Inter), Christian Panucci (Roma), Massimo Oddo (Milan), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Alberto Aquilani (Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Simone Perrotta (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan).
Forwards: Marco Borriello (Genoa), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich).

Spain squad
Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool).
Defenders: Juanito Gutierrez (Real Betis), Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Raul Albiol (Valencia), Alvaro Arbeloa (Liverpool), Fernando Navarro (Mallorca), Carles Puyol (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), David Silva (Valencia), Xavi Hernandez (Barcelona), Albert Riera (Espanyol), Xabi Alonso (Liverpool), Ruben De La Red (Getafe), Marcos Senna (Villarreal).
Forwards: David Villa (Valencia), Daniel Guiza (Mallorca), Luis Garcia (Espanyol), Fernando Torres (Liverpool).

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