With Injuries Mounting, Marcello Lippi Shakes Things Up a Bit

For Italy's next two World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Montenegro, Marcello Lippi will have a few new faces to chose from.

Lippi will be without regulars Andrea Pirlo, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso, and Nicola Legrottaglie.

Italy may also be without Gianluigi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi, who both picked up knocks in Juventus' 2-1 loss to Palermo on Sunday.

Both Antonio Cassano, who has never had the best relationship with Lippi, and Alessandro Del Piero, who hasn't been on form as of late, have been dropped by Lippi. Del Piero did register his first goal of the Serie A campaign against Palermo on Sunday.

Villarreal striker Guiseppe Rossi and Napoli defender Fabiano Santacroce are the two most notable players of the four newcomers.

Rossi, 21, who moved to La Liga before the 2007/08 season after loan spells with Newcastle United and Parma while under Manchester United's control, has been a star for the Under-21 team, scoring 11 goals in 22 games for the Azzurrini.

Santacroce, 22, who has been called by many as "the next Alessandro Nesta", has been impressive since moving from Brescia in 2007.

Christian Maggio, Santacroce's teammate at Napoli, and Udinese striker Simone Pepe are the other two newcomers to Lippi's squad.

What is the best part about the newcomers to the squad is that it shows Lippi isn't affraid to bring in the youngsters during the World Cup qualification process. As I wrote a few weeks back, bringing in a new era of players for Italy is vital for success, not just now, but for the future.

Let's face it, as we learned at Euro 2008, Italy is in a transition period. Although Lippi prefers his older guard, now he's showing that he can also bring in the kids to play.

And although the kids may not see the field, the two games next week will be a good experience for future contests.

Goalkeepers

Buffon (Juventus), Amelia (Palermo), De Sanctis (Galatasaray)

Defenders

Bonera (Milan), Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Chiellini (Juventus), Dossena (Liverpool), Gamberini (Fiorentina), Santacroce (Napoli), Zambrotta (Milan)

Midfielders

Aquilani (Roma), Camoranesi (Juventus), De Rossi (Roma), Gattuso (Milan), Maggio (Napoli), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Nocerino (Palermo), Perrotta (Roma)

Forwards

Di Natale (Udinese), Gilardino (Fiorentina), Pepe (Udinese), G Rossi (Villarreal), Toni (Bayern Munich).