Alessandro Del Piero should captain the Italian team during the tournament because he holds the most caps, team mate Gennaro Gattuso said this afternoon.

Defender Fabio Cannavaro, who has 116 appearances, was due to skipper the world champions but was ruled out of the tournament after tearing ankle ligaments at the start of the week.

Del Piero is next in line in terms of caps with 86, but the striker is not assured of appearing on the pitch having not started for Roberto Donadoni’s side for a while.

Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, with 82 appearances, is expected to be handed the armband for the group stage against the Netherlands, Romania and France.

“I think at this moment Del Piero is captain because of appearances,” midfielder Gattuso told a news conference.

Gattuso was in his usual jovial mood, tripping up and falling into a revolving advertising board before cracking jokes throughout the news conference.

The tough tackler was serious when it came to the team’s task ahead, however, insisting that being humble was the best.

“We must prepare well for the games and when we go on the field we must grit our teeth and not think we are world champions,” he said.

“We have a group made up of good teams and we must be careful.”