JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - Italy play Paraguay in their opening Group F match of the World Cup on Monday. Where: Green Point Stadium, Cape Town Capacity: 66,000 When: Monday June 14, 2030 local (1830 GMT) Referee: Benito Archundia (Mexico) World ranking: Italy 5, Paraguay 31 Teams: Likely formation, shirt numbers, age, caps, goals: Italy (4-3-3) Paraguay (4-4-2) 1-Gianluigi Buffon 32-101-0 1-Justo Villar 32-73-0 19-Gianluca Zambrotta 33-94-2 6-Carlos Bonet 32-65-1 5-Fabio Cannavaro 36-133-2 2-Dario Veron 30-29-0 23-Leonardo Bonucci 23-2-1 14-Paulo Da Silva 30-72-2 4-Giorgio Chiellini 25-29-2 3-Claudio Morel 32-29-0 22-Riccardo Montolivo 25-13-0 13-Enrique Vera 31-29-2 6-Daniele De Rossi 26-54-8 11-Jonathan Santana 28-23-0 15-Claudio Marchisio 24-4-0 16-Cristian Riveros 27-50-8 9-Vincenzo Iaquinta 30-37-5 17-Aureliano Torres 27-28-2 11-Alberto Gilardino 27-41-16 9-Roque Santa Cruz 28-71-22 10-Antonio Di Natale 32-33-9 19-Lucas Barrios 25-3-3 Also available: 12-Federico Marchetti 27-5-0 4-Denis Caniza 35-99-1 14-Morgan De Sanctis 33-3-0 5-Julio Cesar Caceres 30-63-2 2-Christian Maggio 28-5-0 8-Edgar Barreto 25-48-1 3-Domenico Criscito 23-7-0 10-Edgar Benitez 22-13-1 13-Salvatore Bocchetti 23-5-0 12-Diego Barreto 28-3-0 8-Gennaro Gattuso 32-72-1 15-Victor Caceres 25-27-0 16-Mauro Camoranesi 33-53-5 18-Nelson Haedo Valdez 26-38-9 17-Angelo Palombo 28-17-1 20-Nestor Ortigoza 25-6-0 7-Simone Pepe 26-15-0 21-Antolin Alcaraz 27-6-0 18-Fabio Quagliarella 27-20-4 22-Aldo Bobadilla 34-19-0 20-Giampaolo Pazzini 25-8-1 23-Rodolfo Gamarra 21-3-0 Trainer - Marcello Lippi Gerardo Martino Injured - 21-Andrea Pirlo 31-66-8 7-Oscar Cardozo 27-29-4 Suspended - None None Changes * Italy coach Marcello Lippi has been very coy about what system he will use and anything is possible given recent displays have been so lacklustre. However, media speculation says he will spring a surprise and play central defender Giorgio Chiellini at left back. Andrea Pirlo is definitely out while Mauro Camoranesi and Claudio Marchisio are coming off minor injuries. * Prolific Benfica striker Jose Cardozo has been unable to train becuase of an ankle injury but coach Gerardo Martino has a ready-made replacement in Argentine-born Lucas Barrios, who has scored three goals in three games since becoming eligible to play for La Albirroja. Key stats: * Italy are one of only three defending champions (Argentina 1982 and France 2002) to lose their opening match at the tournament. They lost 3-2 to Sweden in 1950. * Italy are undefeated on the three previous occasions they faced South American opposition in their opening match of the World Cup. They beat and drew with Chile in 1966 and 1998 and were victorious over Ecuador in 2002. Previous meetings: 02.07.50 Sao Paulo Italy 2 Paraguay 0 22.04.98 Parma Italy 3 Paraguay 1 GROUP F STANDINGS: P W D L F A PTS Italy 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Paraguay 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 New Zealand 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Slovakia 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 Next fixtures June 15 New Zealand v Slovakia, Rustenburg 1130 GMT June 20 Slovakia v Paraguay, Bloemfontein 1130 GMT Italy v New Zealand, Nelspruit 1400 GMT June 24 Slovakia v Italy, Ellis Park 1400 GMT Paraguay v New Zealand, Polokwane 1400 GMT - - - - (Compiled by Patrick Johnston; Editing by Tom Pilcher; To query or comment on this story email [email protected])
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