Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has played down the chances of the World Champions retaining their title in South Africa.
Speaking from the altitude training base in Sestriere, the Juventus stopper believes that a repeat of their 2006 World Cup final victory against France in a penalty shootout is an arduous task.
"We have less chance of retaining the World Cup than we had of winning it in 2006 because after winning, it becomes more difficult to repeat that," he was quoted in fifa.com.
"But I have a lot of confidence because everyone, in particular the new-boys, is ready. Therefore we have the foundation necessary to make an impact at the World Cup, even if to win it you need many things to happen as well as luck.
Buffon remains adamant that even if the Azzurri fail to defend their title and get knocked out, they can exit the world stage with pride.
"If we have to be knocked-out the important thing is to do so with our heads held high having shown Italian football in a good light."
The 32-year-old is coming into the World Cup on the back of a disappointing season with Juventus, where he missed a huge part of the club's season but was also part of a team that posted a club record 15 league defeats and conceded another record 56 goals.
However, the Italian custodian denied that his ability between the posts has waned out and maintains he is still the best in the business.
"If I'm given the conditions to demonstrate my qualities then I still believe that I'm the best goalkeeper in the world," he said
"From the beginning of the season until November I had my best start to a season.
"But when you finish seventh in the league people say: of course at Juve there's no player who has performed," he went on. "I could be the best in the world for 100 years but if we always finish 10th or 11th no-one would even know I existed."
Buffon, who has spent nearly a decade at Juventus, also took the opportunity to pledge his loyalty to the Turin club and quash speculations linking him with a move to the Barclays Premier League with either Manchester United or Manchester City.
"I've given a lot to Juventus but it's true that I've received everything that a footballer would want, both on and off the pitch," he said.
"The fans love me and that means a lot to me. I have a very well defined situation with Juve, both on my part and their's. We want to continue our relationship.
"We live in an era in which if a player wants to leave, he leaves. Without any problems," Buffon added.
"You can see that Juve have shown a great desire to keep me, and I have done likewise to stay, otherwise that would not have happened. Right now the only thing I'm interested in is to have new players with the Juventus mentality -- those who join need to sweat blood for the shirt.
"This last season shows that (Claudio) Ranieri (who was sacked at the end of the 2008/09 season) was not the problem," the goalkeeper went on.
"We had come to the end of a cycle but even we players didn't realise that."
The Italians are drawn alongside Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia in Group F and will kick off their defence of the World Cup against Paraguay on 14 June.
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