Italy start title defence

IRENE, South Africa, AP:

Defending champions Italy are out to prove that they aren't too old to win the World Cup again when they start their title defence against Paraguay today.

Italy will be a clear favourite in Monday's group F opener in Cape Town, but the Azzurri have appeared confused in recent friendlies and their South American rivals could be more motivated.

The four-time champions will look to kick off this campaign like it did in 2006, when they opened with an authoritative 2-0 win over Ghana that set the tone for their title run.

"The debut is always particularly important," defender Gianluca Zambrotta said. "We want to finish first in the group and a good start would be ideal."

Appearing in their fourth consecutive World Cup, Paraguay could be Italy's toughest opponent in a group that also features New Zealand and Slovakia

Paraguay's Argentine coach Gerardo Martino has constructed a solid defence, which allowed the team to qualify third in South America behind Brazil and Chile, and ahead of Argentina.

The impressive qualifying campaign included a 2-0 win over Brazil and a 1-0 victory over Argentina.

"They're a typical South American side and we saw how tough Uruguay played France," midfielder Gennaro Gattuso said, referring to Friday's scoreless draw in group A. "They fought for every ball. We realise we're going to have to fight for 90 minutes."

Italy are without their most talented midfielder, Andrea Pirlo, who has a left calf injury and will likely be replaced by Fiorentina's Riccardo Montolivo.

In attack, Italy coach Marcello Lippi appears settled on Alberto Gilardino at centre forward, but he's shown some doubts on the wings, testing Vincenzo Iaquinta and Simone Pepe recently along with Antonio Di Natale, Mauro Camoranesi and Fabio Quagliarella.

Juventus midfielder

Lippi also seems intent on using the relatively inexperienced Juventus midfielder Claudio Marchisio as a playmaker.

"We may not be perfect in the first game here, but hopefully we'll build ourselves into a solid squad as we go along," Lippi said.

Italy lost 2-1 to Mexico in a friendly last week and the Mexicans have a similar playing style to Paraguay.

Paraguay will be relying on Manchester City striker Roque Santa Cruz, who appears ready to play after missing all of his team's key qualifying games with recurring knee problems.

"Defensively, Italy are very strong and if they score it's tough to come back," Santa Cruz said. "We've got to play an intelligent game and when we have the ball calmly look for scoring chances. We can't play with long balls, we need to go one on one."

Lippi