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Preview: Bulgaria vs. Italy

Associated Press

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Updated: October 7, 2008, 9:32 AM EDT
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Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and midfielder Mauro Camoranesi will miss Italy's upcoming World Cup qualifiers due to leg muscle injuries.

UEFA WCQ - Group 8

Sat., Jun. 6
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Cyprus 2-2 Montenegro
UEFA Scores | Standings | Fixtures

Buffon will miss a month and Camoranesi will be out 15-20 days, Italy team physician Enrico Castellacci determined after medical exams Tuesday.

Italy visits Bulgaria on Saturday and hosts Montenegro four days later.

The losses of the two Juventus players adds to a long injury list for the World Cup champions, with Marco Materazzi, Fabio Grosso and Andrea Pirlo also out.

"The two players are out as far the games go, but they will stay here in coordination with Juventus until Friday," Castellacci said.

Gianluca Curci of Siena was called up as a third goalkeeper, with Marco Amelia of Palermo and Morgan De Sanctis of Galatasaray the top options to replace Buffon.

Coach Marcello Lippi did not call up another midfielder to replace Camoranesi.


Italy coach Marcello Lippi left Alessandro Del Piero off the squad for the team's next two World Cup qualifying games and called up four players for their international debuts Sunday.

Del Piero had gotten the call for Italy's first two qualifiers last month against Cyprus and Georgia but saw little playing time. The striker has scored one goal in six games this season for Juventus.

The four players making their debut are Villarreal striker Giuseppe Rossi, Udinese forward Simone Pepe, Napoli defender Fabiano Santacroce and Napoli midfielder Christian Maggio.

Italy plays Bulgaria on Saturday in Sofia and Montenegro in Lecce four days later.

Lippi got wins in his first two World Cup qualifying games after returning as coach. Italy leads its group with six points.

Injuries kept Lippi from calling up defenders Nicola Legrottaglie, Marco Materazzi, Marco Cassetti and Fabio Grosso, as well as midfielder Andrea Pirlo and strikers Vincenzo Iaquinta and Marco Borriello.


Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia (Palermo), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Galatasaray)

Defenders: Daniele Bonera (AC Milan), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Andrea Dossena (Liverpool), Alessandro Gamberini (Fiorentina), Fabiano Santacroce (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan)

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Antonio Nocerino (Palermo), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma)

Forwards: Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)


Manchester City winger Martin Petrov was included in Bulgaria's squad for next month's World Cup qualifiers against Italy and Georgia despite his knee injury.

Coach Plamen Markov announced a 20-man squad Monday for the Oct. 11 match against Italy in Sofia and the away match at Georgia on Oct. 15.

The Bulgarians are in Group 8 along with Italy, Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia and Montenegro.


Squad:

Goalkeepers: Dimitar Ivankov (Bursaspor), Georgi Petkov (Levski Sofia)

Defenders: Valentin Iliev (Terek Grozni), Alexander Tunchev (Leicester), Lucio Wagner (Levski Sofia), Ivan Ivanov (CSKA Sofia), Stanislav Manolev (Litex Lovech), Zhivko Milanov (Levski Sofia), Mihail Venkov (Litex Lovech)

Midfielders: Stanislav Angelov (Energie Cottbus), Stilian Petrov (Aston Villa), Stanislav Genchev (Vaslui), Velizar Dimitrov (Metallurg Donetsk), Chavdar Yankov (Hannover 96), Blagoy Georgiev (Slavia Sofia)

Forwards: Martin Petrov (Manchester City), Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United), Zdravko Lazarov (CSKA Sofia), Dimitar Rangelov (Energie Cottbus), Ivelin Popov (Litex Lovech)

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