Italy coach Marcello Lippi has dropped the strongest hint yet that his country's best goalscorer will not start Monday's World Cup Group F opener with Paraguay.

On Sunday night Lippi put his men through their paces in an 11-a-side practice match featuring what seems likely to be his starting XI, before telling the media: "If you don't understand my line-up you should change your trade".

That team did not feature veteran midfielder Gennaro Gattuso or Udinese forward Antonio Di Natale, far and away the best goalscorer in Serie A last season with 29 goals.

Instead, Alberto Gilardino lined up as the central striker with Simone Pepe to his right and the sluggish Vincenzo Iaquinta out of position on the left. Daniele De Rossi teamed up with Claudio Marchisio in midfield with Riccardo Montolivo in the playmaking role.

When pressed, though, Lippi told journalists: "If you don't understand the line-up you should change your trade and give up being journalists.

"If you don't understand the kind of line-up I am using, you better change jobs. Come on, what excuse do you have? But I'm not going to tell you, anyway. Let me say once again that I haven't even told the players. If I tell you today (Sunday), that is not fair. We'll see if you got it right."

Paraguay coach Gerardo Martino believes his side will take inspiration from the plight of their team-mate Salvador Cabanas, who is at home recovering from being shot in the head.

The stocky striker is missing the World Cup in South Africa as he continues his recovery from the incident in a Mexican bar in January.

Cabanas is a first-choice forward for Martino's side and his absence will be felt during the tournament, Martino hopes to turn it into a positive, however, saying: "This is a very sensitive issue for all of us, the whole of Paraguay. The players have spoken to him, we have been in touch with Salvador all the time since he suffered the accident.

"Of course he is a great inspiration for us, for us to be able to play in a World Cup and we will play in tribute to Salvador.

"He would have been here had he not suffered that accident."