Paolo Malidni will lead his troops in the Far East

COACH: Giovanni Trapattoni

BRIEF INFO: Italy have a rich footballing history and will look to go a few places better than in France 98 where they were knocked out by the eventual winners and hosts of the tournament, France.

Pundits across the world say Italy play a very boring style of game, but with players like Christian Vieri and Alessandro Del Piero, up front, its always exciting.

STARS TO WATCH: The rock solid defence of Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Nesta, as well as the awesome power of Christian Vieri and finesse of Alessandro Del Piero up front will be the ones to watch.

Not to mention there are many others among the Italian squad that will surprise many people.

SQUAD:

1 Goalkeeper - BUFFON Gianluigi (Juventus)

2 Defender - PANUCCI Christian (AS Rome)

3 Defender - MALDINI Paolo (AC Milan)

4 Defender - COCO Francesco (FC Barcelona)

5 Defender - CANNAVARO Fabio (Parma)

6 Midfielder - ZANETTI Cristiano (Inter Milan)

7 Forward - DEL PIERO Alessandro (Juventus)

8 Midfielder - GATTUSO Gennaro (AC Milan)

9 Forward - INZAGHI Filippo (AC Milan)

10 Forward - TOTTI Francesco (AS Rome)

11 Midfielder - DONI Cristiano (Atalanta)

12 Goalkeeper - ABBIATI Christian (AC Milan)

13 Defender - NESTA Alessandro (Lazio Rome)

14 Midfielder - DI BIAGIO Luigi (Inter Milan)

15 Defender - IULIANO Mark (Juventus)

16 Midfielder - DI LIVIO Angelo (Fiorentina)

17 Midfielder - TOMMASI Damiano (AS Rome)

18 Forward - DELVECCHIO Marco (AS Rome)

19 Midfielder - ZAMBROTTA Gianluca (Juventus)

20 Forward - MONTELLA Vincenzo (AS Rome)

21 Forward - VIERI Christian (Inter Milan)

22 Goalkeeper - TOLDO Francesco (Inter Milan)

23 Defender - MATERAZZI Marco (Inter Milan)