Travis M. Clark

Defending champions Italy set up shop in group F, facing a less-than-daunting slate of New Zealand, Slovakia and Paraguay. Here’s a look:

Italy

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Napoli), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo).

Defenders: Salvatore Bocchetti (Genoa), Leonardo Bonucci (Bari), Fabio Cannavaro (Juventus), Mattia Cassani (Palermo), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Fabio Grosso (Juventus), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gianluca Zambrotta (AC Milan).

Midfielders: Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Juventus), Andrea Cossu (Cagliari), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Angelo Palombo (Sampdoria), Simone Pepe (Udinese), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan).

Forwards: Marco Borriello (AC Milan), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Vincenzo Iaquinta (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Sampdoria), Fabio Quagliarella (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal, Spain).New Zealand

Goalkeepers: James Bannatyne (Team Wellington), Glen Moss (Melbourne Victory), Mark Paston (Wellington Phoenix)

Defenders: Andy Boyens (New York Red Bulls, United States), Tony Lochhead (Wellington Phoenix), Ryan Nelsen (Blackburn Rovers, England), Winston Reid (Midtjylland, Denmark), Ben Sigmund (Wellington Phoenix), Tommy Smith (Ipswich, England), Ivan Vicelich (Auckland City)

Midfielders: Andy Barron (Team Wellington), Leo Bertos (Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Brockie (Newcastle Jets), Tim Brown (Wellington Phoenix), Jeremy Christie (Tampa Bay, United States), Aaron Clapham (Canterbury United), Simon Elliott (no club), Michael McGlinchey (Motherwell, Scotland), David Mulligan (no club),

Forwards: Rory Fallon (Plymouth, England). Chris Killen (Middlesbrough, England), Shane Smeltz (Gold Coast United), Chris Wood (West Bromwich Albion, England).

Paraguay

Goalkeepers: Diego Barreto (Cerro Porteno), Aldo Bobadilla (Independiente Medellin, Colombia), Justo Villar (Valladolid, Spain)

Defenders: Antolin Alcaraz (Brugge, Belgium), Carlos Bonet (Olimpia, Paraguay), Julio Cesar Caceres (Atletico Mineiro, Brazil), Denis Caniza (Leon, Mexico), Paulo Da Silva (Sunderland, England), Julio Manzur (Olimpia, Paraguay), Claudio Morel (Boca Juniors, Argentina), Aureliano Torres (San Lorenzo, Argentina), Dario Veron (Pumas UNAM, Mexico)

Midfielders: Sergio Aquino (Libertad), Edgar Barreto (Atalanta, Italy), Marcos Caceres (Racing Club, Argentina), Victor Caceres (Libertad), Marcelo Estigarribia (Newell’s Old Boys, Argentina), Eduardo Ledesma (Lanus, Argentina), Nestor Ortigoza (Argentinos Juniors, Argentina), Cristian Riveros (Cruz Azul, Mexico), Jonathan Santana (Wolfsburg, Germany) Enrique Vera (Liga de Quito, Ecuador)

Forwards: Jorge Achucarro (Newell’s Old Boys, Argentina), Lucas Barrios (Borussia Dortmund, Germany), Edgar Benitez (Pachuca, Mexico), Oscar Cardozo (Benfica, Lisbon), Rodolfo Gamarra (Libertad), Osvaldo Martinez (Monterrey, Mexico), Roque Santa Cruz (Manchester City, England), Nelson Haedo Valdez (Borussia Dortmund, Germany)

Slovakia

Goalkeepers: Jan Mucha (Legia Warsaw, Poland), Dusan Kuciak (Vaslui, Romania), Lubos Kamenar (Nantes, France), Dusan Pernis (Dundee United, Scotland)

Defenders: Peter Pekarik (Wolfsburg, Germany), Martin Petras (Cesena, Italy), Martin Skrtel (Liverpool, England), Lubomir Michalik (Leeds, England), Jan Durica (Hannover, Germany), Radoslav Zabavnik (Mainz, Germany), Marek Cech (West Brom, England), Tomas Lubocan (Zenit St Petersburg, Russia), Kornel Salate (Slovan Bratislava)

Midfielders: Kamil Kopunek (Spartak Trnava), Jan Kozak (Timisoara, Romania), Juraj Kucka (Sparta Prague, Czech Republic), Miroslav Karhan (Mainz, Germany), Marek Sapara (Ankaragucu, Turkey), Mario Pecalka (Zilina), Stanislav Sestak (Bochum, Germany), Marek Hamsik (Napoli, Italy), Vladimir Weiss (Manchester City, England), Miroslav Stoch (Chelsea, England), Dusan Svento (Salzburg, Austria), Zdeno Strba (Xanthi, Greece)

Forwards: Erik Jendrisek (Schalke, Germay), Robert Vittek (Ankaragucu, Turkey), Martin Jakubko (Saturn Moscow, Russia), Filip Holosko (Besiktas, Turkey)