Strikers Marco Borriello (AC Milan) and Giuseppe Rossi (Villareal) were the high profile exclusions from Italy's squad. Also staying home are goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu and defender Mattia Cassani (both Palermo) and midfielder Andrea Cossu (Cagliari).
For Paraguay, Argentina-based midfielders Eduardo Ledesma (Lanus) and Marcelo Estigarribia (Newell's Old Boys), defender Marcos Caceres (Racing Club) and striker Jorge Achucarro (Newell's Old Boys) all fell victim to coach Gerardo Martino's axe. Also missing are midfielders Sergio Aquino (Libertad) and Osvaldo Martinez (Monterrey) and defender Julio Manzur (Olimpia).
Defender Aaron Scott (Waitakere Utd), a regular in pre-tournament qualifying, was the one to miss out for New Zealand. Coach Ricki Herbert had threatened to take four goalkeepers as No 1 choice Glen Moss is misses the opening two matches through suspension (for swearing at a referee during qualification) but goes with three, Jacob Spoonley (Auckland City) staying home.
Vladimir Weiss takes the biggest gamble in Group F, including four players who are not totally match fit - defender Martin Skrtel (Liverpool), midfielder Martin Hamsik (Napoli) and strikers Filip Holosko (Besiktas) and Robert Vittek (Ankaragucu). However, their most experienced campaigner midfielder Miroslav Karhan (Mainz) failed to recover from an achilles injury. Also left out are goalkeeper Lubos Kamenar (Nantes) and defenders Lubomir Michalik (Leeds) and Tomas Hubocan (Zenit St Petersburg).
Wednesday 2 June 2010
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