Genoa congratulate Alberto Gilardino on making Italy's provisional World Cup squad even though he didn't

(Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)

Genoa congratulate Alberto Gilardino on making Italy's provisional World Cup squad even though he didn't - Genoa striker Alberto Gilardino has been a regular member of the Italian national team for years now. He was in the team that won the 2006 World Cup and the one that finished third in last year's Confederations Cup. So as one of Serie A's top 10 scorers this season, the rumors that the 31-year-old would be included in Italy's provisional squad for Brazil were believable. So believable that Genoa tweeted their congratulations to both him and teammate Mattia Perin for making the squad before the official list was released. This proved to be a mistake.

When Cesare Prandelli released his list of 30 names, Perin was included, but Gilardino was not.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Mattia Perin (Genoa), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain).

Defenders: Ignazio Abate (AC Milan), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Torino), Mattia De Sciglio (AC Milan), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Gabriel Paletta (Parma), Manuel Pasqual (Fiorentina), Andrea Ranocchia (Inter Milan).

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Riccardo Montolivo (AC Milan), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Parolo (Parma), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Romulo (Hellas Verona), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain).

Forwards: Mario Balotelli (AC Milan), Antonio Cassano (Parma), Alessio Cerci (Torino), Mattia Destro (Roma), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Giuseppe Rossi (Fiorentina).

Genoa deleted the congratulatory tweet, but the one reporting that Sky Sports said Gilardino would be in the squad still remains. (sports.yahoo.com )