Cassano back as Donadoni wields axe

Roberto Donadoni (pictured, left) left several World Cup winners out of his first competitive squad for the Euro 2008 qualifying double header with Lithuania and France and recalled Real Madrid's Antonio Cassano.

Cassano did not feature in the World Cup-winning 23 coached by Donadoni's predecessor Marcello Lippi who quit in the aftermath of the country's triumph. However, he has been recalled in Donadoni's first serious squad having not represented the Azzurri for more than a year.

The new boss had rested 22 of the 23 World Cup winners for the 2-0 friendly defeat by Croatia earlier this month. Some big names are still absent from Donadoni's list, notably Fiorentina striker Luca Toni, Roma playmaker Francesco Totti and Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero. Marco Materazzi is suspended for both games as a result of his infamous spat with Zinedine Zidane in the World Cup final while Alessandro Nesta is injured. Mauro Camoranesi and Vincenzo Iaquinta, who both featured in the final, are also omitted.

Emiliano Bonazzoli, Dario Dainelli and Marco Marchionni, who did not feature in Germany, are given a chance while, of the shadow squad that faced Croatia in Livorno, Manuel Pasqual, Massimo Ambrosini, Franco Semioli, David Di Michele and Tommaso Rocchi all survive.

Italy play their first competitive match since their fourth World Cup win on September 2 in Naples with Lithuania and then travel to Paris for a rematch of the World Cup final.

Italy Squad
Goalkeepers: Christian Abbiati (Torino), Marco Amelia (Livorno), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus).
Defender: Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Dario Dainelli (Fiorentina), Fabio Grosso (Internazionale), Massimo Oddo (Lazio), Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Cristian Zaccardo (Palermo), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona).
Midfielders: Massimo Ambrosini (Milan), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Marco Marchionni (Juventus), Simone Perrotta (Roma), Andrea Pirlo (Milan), Franco Semioli (Chievo).
Forwards: Emiliano Bonazzoli (Sampdoria), Antonio Cassano (Real Madrid), David Di Michele (Palermo), Alberto Gilardino (Milan), Filippo Inzaghi (Milan), Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio).


Meanwhile, Under-21 boss Pierluigi Casiraghi (pictured, centre along with assistant Gianfranco Zola) named his squad for the European Championship qualifiers against Iceland (September 1 in Reykjavik) and Austria (September 5 in Forli). Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini returns after he appeared for the full side against Croatia. View the full squad by clicking here.

Friendly: Italy v Croatia

16 August 2006: Italy 0-2 Croatia (Livorno)
World champions Italy stumbled to a 2-0 home defeat to Croatia in Roberto Donadoni's first game in charge. To mark the start of his reign, Donadoni overlooked the players who helped his predecessor Marcello Lippi to secure the World Cup last month. Donadoni opted to give the star names an extended break, but the understudies failed to deliver in Livorno. Croatia took the lead on 28 minutes when Eduardo da Silva headed past Marco Amelia, who was third choice keeper for Italy at the World Cup. Just before half time, Croatia scored again when Luka Modric pounced on the rebound after Amelia had beaten out Milan Rapaic's shot. In the second half, Cristiano Lucarelli headed wide for the visitors, but Italy could not muster a strong enough response to prevent a first defeat in 26 matches. After the game, Donadoni was not downbeat about the outcome in his first outing as Azzurri boss. "I can't complain about what the lads produced," Donadoni told Rai television. "They produced more than I expected given the stage of the season we are at. We know they were more prepared then we are in terms of fitness."

Italy: Amelia; Zenoni, Terlizzi, Falcone, Chiellini; Del Vecchio (Di Natale 85), Liverani (Palombo 57), Ambrosini (Gobbi 75); Rocchi (Di Michele 57), Lucarelli (Caracciolo 65), Esposito (Semioli 46).
Croatia: Pletikosa; Simunic, N Kovac (Leko 46), Srna (Kranjcar 46); Sabljic, Modric, Knezevic, Klasnic (Balaban 62); Seric (Corluka 46), Eduardo (Olic 79), Rapajc (Petric 56).
Ref: Kircher (Germany).