Italy: Mauro Camoranesi (knee)

Mauro Camoranesi suffered a knee strain in training on Tuesday, but doctors are hopeful he'll recover in time for Italy's opener June 14 vs. Paraguay. In the meantime, the Juve winger will miss the rest of Italy's buildup—friendlies against Mexico and Switzerland.

Azurri supporters hope this isn't the start of a string of injuries. Italy won 2006's World Cup of course, and this is largely the same team. France tried the same trick in 2002 after winning it all in 1998. Minor injuries and poor performance saw France go out in the group phase.

England: Gareth Barry (ankle)

Manager Fabio Capello has decided to carry Gareth Barry despite the fact that Barry will not be able to train fully until after England's June 12 opener against the U.S.A. Ankle injuries are a tricky business and selecting Tom Huddlestone would have made more sense.

Mexico: Giovani Dos Santos (wounded family pride)

Mexico finds a new way to implode every four years. For a country with a huge, soccer-mad population, Mexico stunningly never goes deep in this tournament unless it's on home soil.

This year's cracks have started to appear. Giovani Dos Santos has threatened to quit this year's team because his brother Jonathan was one of Mexico's final cuts.

Imagine if Wayne Gretzky refused to play for Canada because his brother Keith was not offered a spot. Imagine if Mr. T. refused to star in "The A-Team" because his brother E. was not given a role. What's this world coming to?