Italy player profiles (probable team)

1 Gianluigi Buffon (Age: 31. Caps 98). Juventus. Most people on these shores would like to think Shay Given would get into any team in the world, but if there is one spot in goal that is as safe as the hands that guard it, it's Gianluigi Buffon's. Like Given, Buffon is supremely consistent and will also win his 99th cap today.

2 Gianluca Zambrotta (Age: 32. Caps 90). AC Milan. Zambrotta will play his 91st international tonight and is the only one in the Italian side to have played every minute of qualification so far. The right full-back is a World Cup winner and has played for Bari, Juventus, Barcelona and Milan. He's a consummate defender with a great engine.

3 Fabio Grosso (Age: 31. Caps 46). Juventus. Grosso is nearing his half century of caps. At almost 32, he is unlikely to amass as many as Zambrotta or Buffon, but Giovanni Trapattoni has identified him as one of Italy's danger men – not least because of his goal against Bulgaria last month and the key role he played in the Azzurri's second from Iaquinta. He also scored against both Germany and France in the 2006 World Cup, the latter a penalty to win the tournament.

4 Giorgio Chiellini (Age: 25. Caps 24). Juventus. Another Juventus stalwart, Chiellini is by far the least experienced of the regular starters in defence, but has learned alongside the best. At 6ft 1in he cuts an imposing presence and is a typical no nonsense Italian defender. He is, however, mobile for his size, having played regularly at left-back in his earlier days.

5 Nicola Legrottaglie (Age: 32. Caps 14). Juventus. Chiellini's club-mate may just have the edge on Alessandro Gamberini when it comes to replacing Cannavaro in the centre of defence, having played the entire 90 minutes and kept a clean sheet against Georgia last month.

6 Daniele De Rossi (Age: 26. Caps 49). AS Roma. Will reach 50 caps tonight. He has proved nigh on indispensible for Marcelo Lippi in the campaign thus far, having played seven out of eight games in their entirety and scored two goals. De Rossi is a box-to-box dynamic midfielder who is not afraid to put in a tackle.

7 Mauro Camoranesi (Age: 33. Caps 49). Juventus. The Argentine-born Mauro Camoranesi is another who looks set to win his 50th cap. At 33 he's vastly experienced and showing little sign of slowing down.

He has just four in 49 games.

8 Angelo Palombo (Age: 28. Caps 12). Sampdoria. The jury is still out on Palombo in Italy but Marcelo Lippi clearly sees a use for the Sampdoria enforcer, especially away from home. Don't expect to see him too far past the halfway line, his brief is to win possession and allow De Rossi and Pirlo get the attacks under way.

9 Alberto Gilardino (Age: 27. Caps 36). Fiorentina. As far as international scoring records go, 12 in 36 is not bad, but Alberto Gilardino has yet to prove himself to some. At club level his numbers are impressive too but a spell at AC Milan that saw 36 goals in 94 appearances wasn't enough for some and he moved to La Viola. His link up with Iaquinta for the second against Bulgaria last month was sublime and he'll have to be closely watched.

10 Andrea Pirlo (Age: 30. Caps 62). AC Milan. Few players can pull the strings like Pirlo. The AC Milan man is a maestro at controlling possession and the pace of a game, and displayed his eye for a pass when dinking Fabio Grosso in behind the Irish defence to set up Iaquinta in Bari last April. He's also the last person Trapattoni will want standing over a direct free-kick in front of goal.

11 Vincenzo Iaquinta (Age: 29. Caps 34). Juventus. The striker hasn't set the world alight on the international stage but has been effective in this campaign, scoring against Ireland in Bari and Bulgaria last month. At 6ft 3in he's a big man, but mobile, and may well be deployed a little deeper on the left tonight.

OTHER POSSIBLES

Alessandro Gamberini (Age: 28. Caps 6). Fiorentina. May be given the task of replacing the suspended Fabio Cannavaro for what will be his seventh cap.

Gennaro Gattuso (Age: 31. Caps 69). AC Milan. It's nearly a year since Gattuso played for his country because of injury.

Antonio Di Natale (Age: 31. Caps 27). Udinese. Has not played since injuring himself against Montenegro in March but has been in a rich vein of form for his club.