As the Azzurri prepare to take their Confederations Cup bow against the USA on Monday, their World Cup winning coach has vowed not to give up his current crop of veterans…

With many critics blasting Lippi for his insistence on using an older contingent of players in the Azzurri setup, some people might have expected the 61-year-old Paul Newman look-a-like to hint at the arrival of a new dawn of youth.

Far from it, if his comments at the Italy training camp in South Africa are anything to go by.

Speaking to Rai, ahead of Italy’s Confederations Cup opener against the USA on Monday Lippi proclaimed, “I’m not letting go of my old boys. It’s not as if Brazil or Spain has an average age far inferior to ours.”

With many Azzurri faithful hoping to see the inclusion of younger Italian prospects, such as Sebastian Giovinco and Antonio Cassano, it seems Lippi is maintaining his trust in the spine of the team that helped him lift the World Cup three years ago.

“I probably won’t have them in the side when they are going grey," he joked. 

"But, for sure, we will do far better than most with them at next year's World Cup.”