Milan - Veteran captain Fabio Cannavaro has welcomed four newcomers as world champions Italy continue their World Cup qualification campaign by tackling Bulgaria and Montenegro Saturday and Wednesday. At 35, the Golden Ball winner from Real Madrid is close to becoming Italy's most capped player as he needs just eight more games to tie a record held by Paolo Maldini with 126 appearances.
"Records exists to be beaten," Cannavaro said. "But statistics like this make me think that years go by."
The centre-back noted that today it is hard to find solid and reliable defenders that for years have been Italy's trademark.
"My generation had great defenders, now you see less of them," he said. "There has been little attention about the rear package. Today it's mostly zone marking, while we played man-on-man, at least on the strongest strikers."
Among the new players called by Marcello Lippi is Fabiano Santacroce, 24, a Brazil-born defender from Napoli who arrived in Italy when he was four.
"(He) has physical reactivity and speed," Lippi said. "He can play centrally and also on the side. He is a boy to work on for the future."
Also from in-form Napoli is midfielder Christian Maggio, 26, who displays his speed and energy on the flanks, where he is to replace the injured world champion Mauro Camoranesi.
Another Juventus mainstay suffering from muscular troubles is star goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, giving an opportunity to Marco Amelia, while Juve veteran captain Alessandro Del Piero was given a rest from his striker duties.
In his attack package, Lippi called Udinese's Simone Pepe, 25, and the diminutive Giuseppe Rossi, 21, who hope to find room next to Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino.
Rossi has been at Villarreal since 2007 after experiences at Manchester United, Newcastle and Parma. "He is an important player," Lippi said. "Up front he can do anything."
After two qualifying games, Italy lead Group 8 on six points, having struggled against Cyprus and beaten Georgia. Ahead of the upcoming games in Sofia and at home in Lecce, Lippi warned that "Bulgaria (on one point) and Montenegro (on two) deserve to be respected, but we are not worried."
Cannavaro said that the Azzurri are gearing up for "two important and not easy challenges. Bulgaria is a strong team with players of good quality with international experience. We have some crucial absences, so the team must work well this week."
