Italy endured a dismal campaign when finishing bottom of Group F – below Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand – as their bid to retain the trophy won in 2006 ended in embarrassment.

Throughout the Azzurri’s short stay in South Africa, coach Marcello Lippi was forced to reject suggestions that, with an average age of 28 years and nine months, he was relying too heavily on the veterans who succeeded in Germany, most notably captain Fabio Cannvaro, who had a difficult tournament.

But Buffon believes Italy actually suffered from having too many players without World Cup experience – such as striker Giampaolo Pazzini and defender Domenico Criscito – and that inexperience undermined their efforts in South Africa.

“The problem was that the squad was formed of many young lads who had never faced competitions like this, so it’s normal they had a few psychological setbacks,” Buffon told Radio Due.

“After the Confederations Cup there was a media campaign claiming we could leave behind the players from 2006. In reality you always need experienced people.”

Buffon’s own World Cup was cut short by a herniated disc in his back and the goalkeeper has undergone surgery, meaning he will miss the start of the new season for his club Juventus. However, he hopes to replace the retiring Cannavaro as Azzurri captain when he returns to full fitness.

“I’ll be back on the field in three or four months,” Buffon said. “Then I will try to earn the captain’s armband that new Italy Coach Cesare Prandelli promised me.”

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The announcement came on Saturday night via his official Twitter account and Facebook page in which the 25-year-old stated that the newborn child will be under his “exclusive guardianship”. However, the former Manchester United star didn’t disclose the identity of the mother.

The full statement on Ronaldo’s official Facebook page reads:

“It is with great joy and emotion that I inform I have recently become father to a baby boy. As agreed with the baby’s mother, who prefers to have her identity kept confidential, my son will be under my exclusive guardianship.

“No further information will be provided on this subject and I request everyone to fully respect my right to privacy (and that of the child) at least on issues as personal as these are.”

Ronaldo has had a disappointing time with Portugal in South Africa, where his team lost 1-0 to Spain in the second round of the World Cup.

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Nakamura, 32, made 98 appearances for Japan after making his debut in 1998, and in the years following the 2006 World Cup, while he was starring for Scottish club Celtic, he was recognised as the team’s poster boy and creative hub. He is well known for his deadly set pieces which helped make him a fan favourite with Celtic and his national team.

After an unsuccessful spell with Espanyol in 2009, he returned to hometown J-League side Yokohama F Marinos ahead of the 2010 season and Takeshi Okada took the difficult pre-World Cup decision to relegate Nakamura to Japan’s bench, with the attack instead built around emerging starKeisuke Honda.

When asked by Japanese media about his next match for the Blue Samurai, Nakamura said: “There won’t be one for me. I’m through.”

Nakamura made one substitute appearance at the World Cup, in Japan’s 1-0 loss to the Netherlands in the group stage. Of his demotion from the first XI, he told reporters earlier this week: “I didn’t really want to talk about it up until now because I knew that’s all people would ask me about. I felt bad about not speaking all this time, but it wasn’t easy for me.

“It’s a shame I couldn’t do anything on the pitch, but I learned a lot. I have to accept the fact that I wasn’t good enough. But I don’t think my time has been wasted. This is life in soccer.”

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“Basically, we can’t create chances unless we run more than our opponents,” said the 30-year-old lynchpin of Japan’s midfield. “I won’t let the initiative go even against the Netherlands.” In their Group E opener in Bloemfontein on Monday, Japan collectively outran Cameroon by almost 110 kilometres to 103 kilometres (68 miles to 64 miles) in total distance covered, according to data from FIFA.

Gamba Osaka playmaker Endo accounted for more than 11 kilometres, further than any of his teammates, at an altitude of 1,400m. The Netherlands themselves ran about 100 kilometres in beating Denmark 2-0 in even thinner air at 1,750m altitude in Johannesburg. “I’m not sure if it was good to run so much at high altitude,” Endo said. “But our momentum did not go down.”

Now the former Asian champions, whose best FIFA World Cup result was a last 16 spot at home in 2002, and the Dutch are to go head-to-head for the Group E lead at sea level in Durban. Endo said the Netherlands have “excellent players but weak points too. They are a side we can fully deal with”.

Endo, the 2009 Asian Footballer of the Year, said he was specially targeting midfield maestro Wesley Sneijder, who led Inter Milan to the Champions League title. “He will play a key role whatever formation we may take. I won’t be let him free,” he said. The Netherlands succeeded in 78 percent of passes against Denmark and Japan coach Takeshi Okada has told his charges they will need to defend tooth and nail.

“If we don’t put more pressure on the Dutch side than we did against Cameroon, we will let them pass the ball around at will,” said the coach who engineered Monday’s result, Japan’s first in the FIFA World Cup on foreign soil. In a friendly in the Netherlands last September, the Blue Samurai held the Dutch for most of the match until conceding three late goals in a late collapse.

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Dunga has come under pressure for not playing beautiful football and this performance might have given his critics more mud to throw at him, but he was simply satisfied to emerge with a win against hard-working opponents.

He said: “The first match is always very tiring. There is a lot of nervousness and anxiety after a lot of training sessions. All of us want to score and not concede any goals. I’m not entirely happy but this is common in football. In the second half we changed our rhythm a bit. At first we were passing side to side but in the second half we improved a lot. The spirit of this team is noteworthy and this team wants to go forward.”

Dunga admitted his side found it hard to break down a team who, at 0-0, were content to pack the defence and try to keep Brazil out. “When we come across a team that is also offensive it creates the necessary space but it is very difficult against some teams to develop a counter-attack,” he said. “North Korea passed extremely well and defended extremely well but nevertheless Brazil were able to create a number of opportunities.”

Kaka was replaced by Nilmar in the second half as Dunga manages his recovery from groin and thigh problems which have dogged his debut season at Real Madrid. The coach said: “We had already anticipated that Kaka would be substituted. He wasn’t going to play the full 90 minutes because he hasn’t played a full game in five months. We wanted to increase the rhythm and speed of our team so at 2-0 up we wanted to replace him.”

Korea DPR coach Kim Jong-hun was proud of his men despite the defeat, with Ji Yun-nam’s late goal providing cause for celebration and hope for things to come against Côte d’Ivoire and Portugal. Kim said: “The Brazilian team is a very strong team and, although we were unable to win the game, I believe our players fought very well.

“For the first half our players really carried out our plan for the Brazilian team – when they were attacking from the sides or the wings, or at individual plays. We managed to fend them off. We were very well prepared to fight against any of their tactics and when we intercepted the ball we passed very quickly.

“Unfortunately we were unable to put the ball in the net. In the second half Brazil were more on the attack but we tried to find a goal opportunity. I thought we fought quite bravely.”

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Spain, who won the European Championships in 2008, were hugely impressive in qualification and beat Poland 6-0 in their final warm-up game for South Africa.

They are yet to win the World Cup but, with Vincente del Bosque having established a unified team with an array of top stars, Villa feels La Roja could finally end their wait for the trophy.

“When you’re involved in a World Cup, you always think that perhaps it’s time to do something big,” he told El Periodico. “But, on this occasion, if you see what this team has been doing recently, especially what we did in the European Championships, maybe it’s true that Spain are at an all-time peak.

“I’m convinced that the team has improved with the changes that Del Bosque has introduced to the team, and everything is in the right place to do something important in South Africa.”

Villa finally ended long-running speculation over his future this summer when he completed a move to Barcelona, and he says he is delighted with the switch.

“It was really important for me to come to the World Cup with my future resolved,” he said. “I wanted to be quiet and focus solely on the team, and to sign for Barcelona was a dream.

“My idol was always Luis Enrique and Barcelona my team, but it’s true that, when I started to get more of an understanding of the game, it was Romario’s time and it was my dream to imitate him.”

He added: “[Pep Guardiola] was really important. He showed me how much he wanted to sign me. He gave me affection and confidence during the negotiations, so he was vital.”

Villa admits the arrival of Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, though, could threaten Barcelona’s success in La Liga.

“I only can say that, if you look at his career, there is no doubt about the results,” he said. “He has achieved big things with different clubs. Obviously he’s a great coach. I can understand why Madrid have signed him because they urgently need results, but I’m hoping it is not enough to affect Barcelona’s dominance.”

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Ronaldo has not scored for his country in 16 months, since a friendly win over Finland, and drew a blank altogether in the qualifiers as his countrymen limped home with a play-off success over Bosnia. In the Spanish league, however, Ronaldo has netted 26 times for Real Madrid.

“But I am not worried – I am just plugging away as usual. God knows who is working hard and who is deserving. I am perfectly calm. I want to turn in a great tournament and, who knows, be the best. I will strive for that. My ambition has always been to be the best.”

The Portuguese open up their campaign against Côte d’Ivoire on Tuesday before taking on Korea DPR and Brazil.

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The 35-year-old will be on the left side of Holland’s defence for their opening match against the Danes at Soccer City Stadium on Monday. And he hopes to be back at the Johannesburg venue which hosts next month’s final on July 11.

“It will be good to have reached the 100-caps milestone, but it is more important to get the win,” said Van Bronckhorst, who will retire after South Africa 2010. “For a player, it is wonderful to win awards and prizes, that is what you do it for and I have won almost everything I can in my career, apart from the World Cup. This is my last chance and I hope we will be sat here in a few weeks talking about winning it.”

The Dutch have never won a FIFA World Cup, but reached the final at both the 1974 and 1978 finals. They have a reputation as group-stage heroes, knock-out phase zeros and Van Bronckhorst says the current squad — boasting stars like Robin van Persie, Rafael van der Vaart and Wesley Sneijder — are eager to correct that.

“We have seen that before,” said the Feyenoord left-back, who won the UEFA Champions League title at Barcelona in 2006. “I think it started in 1974. At World Cups and European Championships, we have always played good football, but we lose when push comes to shove in the group stages. We have never been able to do that and I hope we can here.”

The Dutch are favourites to win Group E, but Van Bronckhorst says the current squad has learned the lessons from UEFA EURO 2008, when they beat both Italy and France in the groups stages only to go out to Russia in the quarter-finals.

“As a team we are very strong and we have players who can make a difference in the match,” he said with the Dutch set to face Cameroon and Japan in Group E. We have to operate as a team, but we also have players who can win games and we have grown as a team. We have to continue on that path for this World Cup.”

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After a run of five warm-up matches without a victory and only one goal scored, Okada has been accused of negativity for the way he sets his teams up, but he insists they will take the game to their opponents at the Free State Stadium.

“We have never just concentrated on defence,” he said. “We have skilful players and tomorrow we will be very attack-minded.

“We have had our ups and downs since I took this post two and a half years ago. It is an experience you need to go through and I am not worried. We have done everything we can in terms of our preparation. What I wish for now is our best level of performance.”

It is Okada’s second World Cup in charge of Japan after being at the helm for France ‘98. Okada returned in 2007 and guided the Blue Samurai comfortably through the qualifying campaign after his predecessor, Ivica Osim, suffered a stroke.

They arrived in South Africa on the back of only two defeats in 14 games and Okada now wants his players to hit the ground running. “We are well tuned,” he said. “It is down to me to make sure the players are not nervous. We will encourage them as best we can.”

Okada is fully aware of the threat posed by Cameroon captain Samuel Eto’o, who could be even more motivated after being handed the armband by coach Paul Le Guen.

The Inter Milan striker carries the hopes of the nation after helping his club win the Champions League.

“I do not think Eto’o is perfect,” he said. “He is not the only one to focus on as Cameroon have many talented attacking players, “but my team have the information they need on Eto’o and we might require more than one man to cover him at times.”

On Saturday, Japan arrived in Bloemfontein, 1,400 metres above sea level, from George after deciding not to train at altitude in South Africa. Okada insists their ten-day pre-tournament training camp in Switzerland was sufficient.

“We got rid of our fatigue by coming back to sea level and that was the important thing for me.”

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Evra will lead France out against Uruguay in Cape Town on Friday, but the Manchester United defender decided to overlook Senegal, the country where he was born, to represent France at international level.

“I grew up amid a Senegalese culture at home.” Evra said. “But we became westernised very quickly and when I had to choose between playing for Senegal or France my father told me to follow my heart.

“I opted for France, as that was where I had grown up, but I then came in for lots of abuse in Senegal.

“I was called a monkey who grovels before the white man and labelled a money-obsessed traitor to the nation. But my parents helped me get through it.

“I had not been back to Senegal since the age of 10. I have still not returned. It is 19 years now and I need an incentive to make me go.”

Despite the abuse, Evra is proud that the tournament is being held in Africa for the first time. He said: “I have two wishes. I want to win it for France and hope it is a huge party for football and all Africa with no security problems.

“I often talk about the World Cup with my father. He is now 81 and badly asthmatic. He says seeing me lift the World Cup would be the greatest present he could have before he goes to heaven.”

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