It was a surprising decision made by Italy head coach Roberto Donadoni.
He left out AC Milan's prolific veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi who has been superb with Milan, including his 7 goals in last 10 Serie A matches.
Inzaghi is the sixth-highest goal scorer in Azzurri history – level with Adolfo Baloncieri and Alessandro Altobelli – with 25 international goals to his name.
Donadoni preferred to pick former AS Roma badboy Antonio Cassano rather than Super-Pippo.
Cassano had an excellent season with Sampdoria but has not played for the Azzurri since his last match against France in September 2006.
He showed some impressive performances this season but Donadoni refused to call him up because of worries over his discipline.
Cassano starred in Euro 2004 but since then he struggled with form and temperament. His bad temper makes him a risky selection for Azzurri.
While Inzaghi made a statement its published on acmilan.com, said: "I'm disappointed, above all on a human level. I thought I'd demonstrated my loyalty, whether it be by travelling for games without playing, or by scoring two goals last year against the Faroe Isles in a qualification game worth three points like all the others."
"Then, there's been silence, notwithstanding my performances with Milan on all continents and the 18 goals scored from winter to April-May."
Donadoni have called 24 players and they will compete for the 23 places, included 14 players from the World Cup-winning squad in Germany two years ago.
Italy have been drawn in a tough group with the Netherlands, Romania and France.
Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia (Livorno), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)
Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Fabio Grosso (Olympique Lyonnais), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Christian Panucci (AS Roma), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona)
Midfielders: Massimo Ambrosini (AC Milan), Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Forwards: Marco Borriello (Genoa), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)
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He left out AC Milan's prolific veteran striker Filippo Inzaghi who has been superb with Milan, including his 7 goals in last 10 Serie A matches.
Inzaghi is the sixth-highest goal scorer in Azzurri history – level with Adolfo Baloncieri and Alessandro Altobelli – with 25 international goals to his name.
Donadoni preferred to pick former AS Roma badboy Antonio Cassano rather than Super-Pippo.
Cassano had an excellent season with Sampdoria but has not played for the Azzurri since his last match against France in September 2006.
He showed some impressive performances this season but Donadoni refused to call him up because of worries over his discipline.
Cassano starred in Euro 2004 but since then he struggled with form and temperament. His bad temper makes him a risky selection for Azzurri.
While Inzaghi made a statement its published on acmilan.com, said: "I'm disappointed, above all on a human level. I thought I'd demonstrated my loyalty, whether it be by travelling for games without playing, or by scoring two goals last year against the Faroe Isles in a qualification game worth three points like all the others."
"Then, there's been silence, notwithstanding my performances with Milan on all continents and the 18 goals scored from winter to April-May."
Donadoni have called 24 players and they will compete for the 23 places, included 14 players from the World Cup-winning squad in Germany two years ago.
Italy have been drawn in a tough group with the Netherlands, Romania and France.
Italy squad
Goalkeepers: Marco Amelia (Livorno), Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)
Defenders: Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Fabio Grosso (Olympique Lyonnais), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Christian Panucci (AS Roma), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona)
Midfielders: Massimo Ambrosini (AC Milan), Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma), Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan)
Forwards: Marco Borriello (Genoa), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Luca Toni (Bayern Munich)
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