New players added to mix for World Cup champions

With half of Italy's first-choice lineup missing due to injury, coach Marcello Lippi will be relying on some less famous names to keep the Azzurri top of their group in World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria on Saturday and Montenegro four days later. World Cup winners Gianluigi Buffon, Andrea Pirlo, Mauro Camoranesi, Fabio Grosso and Marco Materazzi are all missing due to injury, so Lippi will instead be reliant on the likes of Simone Pepe, Riccardo Montolivo, Marco Amelia, Giuseppe Rossi and Andrea Dossena to maintain Italy's 100 percent record in Group 8. "For me this could be a great chance. At 25, I think I'm mature enough," said Pepe, the Udinese forward who is expected to start on the right wing where Camoranesi usually roams. "Camoranesi is a model for me," Pepe said. "He knows how to combine skill, fantasy and... [read full story]