New Jersey’s Giuseppe Rossi makes Italy’s preliminary roster; Totti and Toni left off

Rossi makes Italy’s preliminary roster; Toni off

ROME — New Jersey’s Giuseppe Rossi was selected Tuesday for defending champion Italy’s 30-man preliminary World Cup roster, while Francesco Totti and Luca Toni have been left off.

Rossi, a 23-year forward for Villarreal in Spain, was born in Teaneck and went to Clifton High School. He was eligible to play for both Italy and the United States and opted to play for the Azzurri instead of the Americans. He was the only played selected based outside of Italy.

Totti retired from Italy’s national team after helping win the 2006 World Cup. He was the Azzurri’s primary forward in 2006 and at the 2008 European Championship, but lost his place when he ran into problems at Bayern Munich to start this season.

Toni transferred to Roma in January and has helped the club keep pressure on leader Inter Milan heading into the final weekend of the Serie A season.

Coach Marcello Lippi chose seven forwards, including Marco Borriello, Antonio Di Natale, Alberto Gilardino, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Giampaolo Pazzini and Fabio Quagliarella.

Juventus center back Nicola Legrottaglie was not included despite taking part in a two-day Azzurri training camp last week.

Teams must cut to 23 by June 1. Italy will train at altitude in Sestriere starting May 23, and has exhibitions against Mexico on June 3 in Brussels and Switzerland two days later in Geneva.

In South Africa, the Azzurri open against Paraguay on June 14 and also face New Zealand and Slovakia in Group F.

The roster:

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)