Juventus full-back Fabio Grosso, who scored the winning penalty in the World Cup final shoot-out four years ago, has been left out of Italy’s provisional 28-man squad for the finals in South Africa.

The left-back was a revelation for the Italians in 2006 and scored the breakthrough goal in their epic semi-final win over hosts Germany in Dortmund. He then held his nerve to tuck away the decisive penalty against France in Berlin to seal his country’s fourth World title success. But Grosso, who also had a spell at French side Lyon, has struggled to maintain the high standards he set himself in the run up to this summer’s tournament.

Meanwhile, Francesco Totti will not be returning to the Italian set up following his retirement from international football after winning the World Cup. The Roma star was expected to announce his comeback but his name was omitted from boss Marcelo Lippi’s squad.

Lippi has also dropped Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni, currently on-loan at Serie A runners-up Roma, while the former Juve boss resisted calls to name Sampdoria star Antonio Cassano despite helping his side qualify for next season’s Champions League.

Italy begin the defence of their title against South American qualifiers Paraguay in Cape Town on June 14.