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If it were possible to make a winning formula, a surefire way to guarantee FIFA World Cup™ success, football’s greatest trophy would not be the most coveted in the game. Every tournament has its stories and heroes and, invariably, opens up new paths to glory. Often, the men who make the difference are those who have not previously tasted success on football’s greatest stage. In fact, four out of the last five world champions have lined up without a single FIFA World Cup winner in their ranks, the only exception being the victorious Brazil squad in South Korea/Japan 2002 who benefited from the experience of Cafu and Ronaldo who had tasted victory in the USA eight years previously.

And yet, every coach in South Africa would place immeasurable value on having that experience in their squads. Only three will enjoy that privilege this time around - Brazil, France and Italy - and in all three camps, they feel sure that past success will readily translate into success in the near future.

In the opinion of Brazil’s understated 33-year old midfielder, Gilberto Silva, having been there before is key. "Of course I think that the fact that I was part of that winning team in 2002 is important. A lot of the young players ask me about my experience," he admitted in a recent interview with FIFA.com. "In 2002, we looked up to players like Cafu, Ronaldo and Roberto Carlos and I was just delighted to get a place in the team and play all the way through the tournament. That was very important. But on the other hand, you can get caught up in the emotion of a victory and forget the mistakes you made, so you actually end up learning less. The fact that I’ve experienced both, when we were knocked out in 2006 as well, can be very valuable," added the Brazilian, who now plies his trade in Greece with Panathinaikos. Alongside Kleberson, he will take his place in South Africa with two other members of the 2002 squad, Kaka and current Canarinho captain, Lucio, both of whom were also part of the 2006 squad in Germany which started the tournament as many people’s firm favourites to win their sixth FIFA World Cup™ and ended up going out to France in the quarter-finals.

Just like yesterday

Amongst the 32 qualifiers, perhaps none is more qualified than Italy to speak with authority on how it feels to lift football’s greatest prize. 2010 will see the return of no fewer than nine survivors of the dramatic, occasionally difficult, and ultimately victorious campaign of 2006: Daniele de Rossi, Alberto Gilardino, Vicenzo Iaquinta, Andrea Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon, Gennaro Gattuso, Gianluca Zambrotta, Mauro Camoranesi, and captain Fabio Cannavaro, who was also FIFA World Player of the Year four years ago. There will be a familiar face on the Italian bench, too; coach Marcello Lippi, another veteran of the 2006 campaign, will once again carry his country’s hopes of glory. That said, the Azzurri supremo’s reliance on seasoned campaigners has not gone down well with everyone. For his part, Lippi himself is quick to point out that the current Italy squad is actually a blend of young guns and battle-hardened veterans.

"If you look at it, you can see that I’ve changed more than half of the squad that won in Berlin. We’ve got a lot of young players with a fair bit of experience," said the coach, who readily admits that the presence of some wise old heads in the squad will enable the Italians to keep their morale up, even if things do not go their way in the early stages of the tournament. "As always, I will try to put together a team with a specific gameplan, and I’m sure that it will be ready at the right time. Perhaps not in the first game or even the second, but it won’t take long. If we’re lucky enough to go through, we could do something really significant," added Lippi, who will take heart from his own extensive tournament experience.

In or out?

France won their only FIFA World Cup™ on home soil twelve years ago, but even still, coach Raymond Domenech has the luxury of including a FIFA World Cup™ winner in their ranks. Thierry Henry may no longer be a regular starter, and he may have passed the captaincy to Manchester United’s Patrice Evra, but the Barcelona attacker is sure to play a significant part in his country’s campaign in South Africa in 2010.

"It would be a mistake to think that Thierry Henry is 'only' a substitute," pointed out his fellow forward Djibril Cisse, underlining the respect that exists in Les Bleus’ squad for their former skipper. "Maybe he isn’t having the best of times at the moment, and so he isn’t going to start, but he is always someone who gives us something extra," added the Panathinaikos striker. His views were echoed by midfielder Jeremy Toulalan. "There are two types of leader; those who make things happen on the field, and the leaders in the dressing room. For us at the moment, they are Pat (Evra), William (Gallas), Franck Ribery and also Thierry."

In other words, the crucial thing will be the teams’ performances on the pitch. But having one of those fourteen players in your squad, someone with that winning mentality, someone who has already taken those seven steps to glory, can make a huge difference too.

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro says that the reigning world champions need to rediscover their traditional defensive strengths if they are to compete for honours at the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™.

Italy begin their Group F campaign against Paraguay in Cape Town on Monday amidst much uncertainty about their recent form, particularly defensively. Cannavaro, 36, has just come off a poor season with Juventus for whom fellow Italy back-five starters Giorgio Chiellini and Gianluigi Buffon also play.

It has left many people in Italy feeling worried that the country's football team has lost its ability to keep things tight at the back, as past teams always did, employing the famous catenaccio tactic. And the captain knows that he and his team-mates will need to rediscover their roots if they are to go far here. "Defence is vital but that doesn't mean we'll stay in our own half of the pitch," he said from Italy's base just south of Pretoria.

"It means being compact. We'll never play an attacking game like Brazil, Portugal or Spain but they'll never be able to defend like us. In 2006 we had played for two years with practically the same players. This year it's different, there are new ones, there's been changes. That's normal because there's a new generation.

Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro  wrote:

The men are different but as for defensive organisation we've seen that if teams are compact they can go a long way. That's something we've lost these last few years and we'll try to get it back. "The men are different but as for defensive organisation we've seen that if teams are compact they can go a long way. That's something we've lost these last few years and we'll try to get it back. "The coach (Marcello Lippi) is trying to work things out and he'll decide on Sunday (how we'll play). He needs to try things, that's normal. I don't yet know how we'll play but he'll find the solution." Cannavaro not only admitted that Italy's defence isn't what it once was but also accepted that as a side they no longer have any superstars. Italy once had players of the quality of Roberto Baggio, Francesco Totti and Alessandro Del Piero in their team, but no more. Even so, the captain believes they do have those who can make a difference. "Unfortunately Italian football doesn't have a player of this high profile and hence the coach has had to go for other options," he added. "But a superstar is not just about technique, it's also about how a player can get his team out of certain situations in a match. And we've got players who can do that like (Antonio) Di Natale, (Vincenzo) Iaquinta or (Alberto) Gilardino. "Of course we don't have a (Lionel) Messi, (Wayne) Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo. But in 2006 we had great players who weren't on the top of their game, it was the group as a whole that won."