By Alberto Cagliano Aug 18, 2008, 9:28 GMT
Milan - Coach Marcello Lippi is back in the fray after a two-year rest to begin a second stint at the helm of world champions Italy.
He rejoins the national team, which he steered to a fourth World Cup in 2006, for a friendly with Austria on Wednesday in the French seaside town of Nice.
A month and a half after being called back to replace Roberto Donadoni and less than three weeks from the beginning of the qualifying campaign for the World Cup 2010, Lippi has largely stuck to the group he took to the Germany-hosted World Cup.
Earlier this summer, on the second anniversary of his triumph over France at Berlin's Olympiastadion, Lippi remarked that 'at times, when talking about the 2006 World Cup, people don't fully acknowledge that the success was not at all casual from a technical point of view. That team had some of the strongest players in the world.'
Many of those who lifted the cup for the Azzurri in Berlin are still in Lippi's line-up, with the glaring absences of Fabio Cannavaro and Marco Materazzi in defence, both injured along with striker Luca Toni.
Toni's absence gives way to the return of world champion Alberto Gilardino, looking to bounce back after a move from AC Milan to Fiorentina after two dismal seasons.
Juventus veteran Alessandro Del Piero, 33, has good chances to start as captain up front after 89 games and 27 goals with the Azzurri, possibly with team-mate Mauro Camoranesi as supporting forward.
Lippi, however, is likely to take advantage from the six substitutions allowed in friendlies, which should leave a chance to strikers Vincenzo Iaquinta, also from Juve, and Antonio Di Natale.
Giorgio Chiellini, who earned a spot in defence during Donadoni's tenure, is missing due to a recent injury and is to be replaced by Juve team mate Nicola Legrottaglie, rejoining the Azzurri after a four-year absence.
The midfield relies on the play-making skills of Andrea Pirlo and the grit of Gennaro Gattuso, both from Milan, with Roma's Daniele De Rossi and Simone Perrotta as ramparts before the defence.
Still reeling from the quarter-final elimination against Spain at Euro 2008, the Azzurri look to find again the solidity they found in 2006 as Italian football was being shaken by one of its worst scandals.
Their road to the 2010 World Cup hosted by South Africa begins away to Cyprus on September 6, followed on September 10 by a home game with Georgia.
Bulgaria, Ireland, and Montenegro also make up a qualification Group 8 that seems to pose little threat for the world champions.
Austria left Euro 2008 at the group phase and may have a hard time as they face off with France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania and the Faroe Islands in Group 7.
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