Pazzini fears England defence

Italy striker Giampaolo Pazzini admitted yesterday that there is one team whose defence he would not relish coming up against: England's.

The 25-year-old Sampdoria frontman is unlikely to start Italy's first Group F match against Paraguay in Cape Town tomorrow despite a great season with his club.

He helped Sampdoria to a fourth place finish in Serie A and Champions League football next season and there are many in his homeland who believe he deserves to replace Fiorentina's Alberto Gilardino in Italy coach Marcello Lippi's starting line-up.

And if and when he does get a chance, Pazzini will be hoping that John Terry is not the man marking him.

"England's defenders are very tough, they're very strong, I'd prefer to avoid them," he said.

"And (Brazil's) Lucio too, he's a bit particular, that's all I'm saying."

Pazzini scored around a goal every two games this season and that form has seen him linked with a move to bigger teams both at home and abroad, but he insists that such talk won't distract him.

"I've had a good season but I'm here to play the World Cup and I'm not thinking about that," he said.

One thing that has caught his attention is the noise made by the vuvuzelas, South Africans are so fond of playing.

There were even some fans making a racket at Italy's practice match against a local side on Friday night.

"It's nice, we got a taste of it at our friendly. When there are just three or four you can hear them so I can't imagine what it'll be like with 20,000-30,000," added Pazzini.