Christian Abbiati is not getting carried away about playing in the World Cup.
Christian Abbiati is not getting carried away about his prospects of making Italy's World Cup squad.The goalkeeper, who is on loan at Juventus from Milan, has been called up for Italy's friendlies against Holland and Ivory Coast.
With Gianluigi Buffon still recovering from a shoulder injury, Abbiati has been given a chance to shine by Azzurri coach Marcello Lippi.
But Abbiati does not feel his appearance in the setup for the upcoming friendlies is a sign that he will make the squad for the World Cup finals in Germany.
"I'm happy to be here again and I think I have been able to join up with the squad on merit," Abbiati told the Italian Football Federation's official website.
"I'm realistic and I think this call-up won't be related to the World Cup, due to the fact that, in my role for Germany, Buffon, [Morgan] De Sanctis and [Angelo] Peruzzi have an advantage.
"I won't surrender and I'll try to do good things until the end of the season and then I'll have a think about the World Cup.
"For the moment, I'll enjoy this call-up and I hope to play in at least one of the two friendlies."
Meanwhile, Fiorentina striker Luca Toni is relishing the chance of playing in Italy's friendly against Holland, who are coached by his idol Marco van Basten.
Toni said: "There will be a really big emotion for me, coming up against my idol.
"I think he's one of the strongest forwards of all time."
Turning to his chances of making the Azzurri squad for the World Cup, Serie A's top scorer feels he still has work to do.
He added: "Even if I'm doing good things in the league, with the Azzurri, I don't feel in pole position for a place at the World Cup, due to the fact that there are many good strikers in Italy at this moment."
