Del Piero still harbours World Cup hope

Juventus forward Alessandro Del Piero has told Italy boss Marcello Lippi he would love to be part of next year's World Cup squad.

Del Piero has missed almost the entire season with various injuries and, though he is now nearing full fitness, is not part of the Italy squad which will face Holland and Sweden over the next five days.

Nevertheless, Del Piero still fancies a trip to South Africa next summer.

He told Corriere dello Sport: "Me, in South Africa? I have already been there, but I would like to go back there.

"Having been a part of the Italy squad at the beginning, I still feel like I'm part of it."

Del Piero must hope that Lippi also considers him part of the squad as the coach said earlier this week it would be "difficult" for anyone from the outside to force their way in.

There have been repeated calls for Antonio Cassano to be handed another chance with the national team, while Francesco Totti and Alessandro Nesta - who both announced their international retirement after the Azzurri won the tournament in Germany three years ago - also have their champions.

Del Piero has not been a part of the Italy squad since last September's qualifier against Georgia.

Italy train in quake-hit L'Aquila

Italy showcased the World Cup and trained in front of 3,000 fans in a stadium in L'Aquila yesterday to show solidarity with the victims of the earthquake which struck the city in April.

The world champions face Netherlands in a friendly in nearby Pescara tomorrow as part of a fund-raising drive to help the area rocked by a quake which killed nearly 300 people.

"I am from this area but the help to this devastated region has come from all Italians," full back Fabio Grosso told reporters.

"Here I see the tough work done by people day and night that has helped families who had seen their lives destroyed."

Meanwhile, Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was back in training yesterday with the Azzurri squad after overcoming the illness which kept him in the team hotel the day before.

Giuseppe Rossi also joined up with the squad yesterday after playing for Villarreal in the King's Cup on Wednesday night.

Another man who visited the Italian squad yesterday was Daniele De Rossi, the Roma midfielder who fractured his cheekbone at the weekend in a challenge with Inter's Patrick Vieira. De Rossi, who underwent surgery on Wednesday and is expected to be out of action for around three weeks, had lunch with his international team-mates yesterday.