Italy suffers talent drain
In the cosmopolitan world of modern-day football, it was an achievement worthy of some note.
As Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro lifted the World Cup above his head last year the whole of the Italian game could say they had played their part.
Unlike all the other major contenders in Germany, the Azzurri squad for that triumphant World Cup campaign was exclusively home-based. Of the 14 players who appeared in the final against France every single one of them played their football in Serie A.
But 12 months on when the squad meet up ahead of their friendly against Hungary, there may be the slight hint of a few new accents beginning to form.
In the year since that memorable victory in Berlin, Italian football has suffered what can only be described as a monumental drain of home-grown talent.
Within days of picking up the famous trophy Cannavaro was heading for pastures new. He was on a plane to Real Madrid as part of the mass exodus which followed Juventus' demotion to Serie B for their part in the match-fixing scandal.
Club-mate Gianluca Zambrotta followed him to La Liga - although to the Nou Camp rather than the Bernabeu as he was signed by Barcelona for a combined fee believed to be in the region of GBP13million ($A32.5million) along with French stalwart Lilian Thuram.
For a while it looked to be only a minor concern, especially when the likes of Gianluigi Buffon and Alessandro Del Piero signalled their intention to stay with Juve and help them out of Serie B.
However, in the wake of another angst-ridden season of controversy, speculation and even tragedy - the death of a policeman in riots outside the game between Catania and Palermo in February saw the entire Italian league programme suspended - Serie A's top stars appear to have decided enough is enough.
During this close-season several of Italy's biggest names have opted to move abroad.
Within a few weeks of the transfer window opening World Cup heroes Luca Toni and Fabio Grosso had signed for Bayern Munich and Lyon respectively.
Then there was Cristian Abbiati and Morgan de Sanctis, two of the country's best goalkeepers, who moved to Spain with Atletico Madrid and Sevilla.
Striker Cristiano Lucarelli was a symbol of the traditional Italian system having established himself in the lower leagues before emerging as a major star at Livorno. Yet even he has made the move abroad after signing for Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine.
Add Rolando Bianchi (Manchester City), Massimo Donati (Celtic) and Graziano Pelle (AZ Alkmaar) and it is no wonder the Liga Calcio officials are scratching their heads.
With the Azzurri world champions and AC Milan kings of Europe surely everyone should want to play in Serie A? Not so, apparently.
The reasons appear numerous, and the hangover from the recent off-pitch troubles can not have helped.
But as former Italian international Gianfranco Zola, who spent seven years with Chelsea, explains, it could also be simply that the likes of La Liga, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and the English Premier League currently have more to offer.
"Money is important but you play football because it's fascinating - in England, Germany or Spain stadiums are always full of fans and players love it," said Zola.
The fact is that the financial power and prestige of the likes of La Liga and the EPL has made them an increasingly attractive proposition, and the lure of foreign challenges has begun to overshadow Serie A.
It is not all doom and gloom, of course, and on the pitch the likes of Milan, Juventus and current champions Inter continue to challenge among the best teams on the planet.
They will all begin their challenge for honours again when the new Serie A season kicks off again next weekend and it would be a major shock if the Milan duo were not there or thereabouts when the UEFA Champions League gets into full swing.
It is worth nothing that there are still several Italian internationals, such as Genarro Gattuso and Andrea Pirlo, who continue to perform week in, week out in their native league and the crowds will still flock to see them again this year.
But the fact is their numbers are dwindling.
By the time the next World Cup rolls round in 2010 the Azzurri will hope to have found a way to keep hold of their home-grown stars.