De Rossi in for Italy as Paraguay drop Santa Cruz

Italy open their World Cup defence against Paraguay on Monday with Daniele de Rossi fit and in the side but Paraguay have opted to start without Manchester City’s Roque Santa Cruz.

While De Rossi recovered from a knock, AC Milan playmaker Andrea Pirlo misses the game through injury, as expected, with Riccardo Montolivo replacing him in midfield.

Italy coach Marcello Lippi, meanwhile, left veteran midfielder Gennaro Gattuso on the bench with Alberto Gilardino lining up as the central striker with Simone Pepe to his right and the sluggish Vincenzo Iaquinta on the left.

More surprising was Paraguay coach Gerardo Martini leaving Santa Cruz out of the team.

Martini has an exceptionally strong set of strikers to chose from and he opted instead for Argentina-born Lucas Barrios and his Borussia Dortmund teammate Nelson Valdez.

The team are dedicating their World Cup campaign to teammate Salvador Cabanas, who was shot in the head in the toilet of a trendy Mexico City bar in January. He survived but is on a long road to recovery.

The match goes ahead despite stewards due to provide security at the game walking off the job several hours ahead of kick-off with police taking control.

Teams

Italy: Gianluigi Buffon, Gianluca Zambrotta, Domenico Criscito, Fabio Cannavaro (capt), Goergio Chiellini, Riccardo Montolivo, Claudio Marchisio, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Simone Pepe, Alberto Gilardino, Daniele de Rossi

Coach: Marcello Lippi (ITA)

Paraguay: Justo Villar, Claudio Morel, Carlos Bonet, Victor Caceres, Paulo da Silva, Enrique Vera, Cristian Riveros, Lucas Barrios, Aureliano Torres, Nelson Valdez, Antolin Alcaraz

Coach: Gerardo Martini (ARG)