Gianluigi Buffon's absence could be a huge blow to an injury-depleted Italy when they take on Bulgaria on Saturday in Sofia. "I'm happy Buffon isn't playing. And I don't think I'm the only one," Bulgaria captain and Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov said. "He's Italy's symbol, the strongest goalkeeper in the world. Let's call ourselves lucky."
Besides Buffon, who is out for a month with a leg muscle problem, the World Cup champions are also without Andrea Pirlo, Mauro Camoranesi, Fabio Grosso, Marco Materazzi and Vincenzo Iaquinta. Alessandro Del Piero and Antonio Cassano were intentionally left off the roster by coach Marcello Lippi, who called up four new players instead - Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi, Udinese forward Simone Pepe, Napoli defender Fabiano Santacroce and Napoli midfielder Christian Maggio.
"The injuries accelerated the new additions, but it's not like I wouldn't have done it without these problems," Lippi said. "In two years at the World Cup we won't be any younger." Palermo's Marco Amelia will fill in for Buffon in goal, Liverpool's Andrea Dossena is being tipped to start at left back and Pepe or Rossi could get the nod in attack on the right flank. Berbatov added that he was surprised to see some of the new Italian faces. He said: "I was expecting to see [Luca] Toni and Del Piero, nobody was thinking about Giuseppe Rossi."
Only eight members of the 23-player squad who won the World Cup two years ago are on Italy's roster "It's always upsetting not to see the guys here who I shared the World Cup victory with," captain Fabio Cannavaro said. "But the players who are here are all exceptional. We've got the right spirit and that makes me confident." Italy haven't lost an official match to Bulgaria in 40 years and won the last two meetings - at the 1994 World Cup and 2004 European Championship - each by the score of 2-1. "In the past, Italy have often created big disappointments for us, but this is our chance to get revenge," Berbatov said. sports@thenational.ae