Italian World Cup Squad

The Italians had a headline-grabbing win against the Germans this week winning 4-1, with three of the goals coming from the strikers. This win will be seen by much of the media as an endorsment of the Italians' World Cup credentials despite the current German side being barely comparable to the East German sides of the 70's.

The game did however indicate the depth of talent within the Italian squad, the win was achieved without certain starters Totti and Rino Gattuso. The absense of Totti allowed Del Piero to start behind Gilardino and Luca Toni with all three on the scoresheet and surely the plane to the World Cup.

The race to be the fifth choice striker in the Azzurri squad is hotting up, Cassano, Lucarelli, Inzaghi, Vieri and Iaquinta all competing for a single spot. My favourite for the final place would be Pippo 'I think, therefore I'm offside' Inzaghi. Superpippo is enjoying a good run of form scoring two this weekend to take his tally to 10 goals in 10 Serie A games. Marcelo Lippi seems to want to take experienced players, so Lucarelli, Iaquinta and Cassano could all be left behind, while Vieri has not be as prolific as Inazaghi despite leaving AC Milan to play in a less demanding league.

With good competition for places the Italian side are able to pick the in-form players and are surely a team that the others would be nervous about playing come this summer.