Alessandro del Piero looks set to miss out on a starting place in Italy's first World Cup match against Ecuador on Monday.
The Italian coach, Giovanni Trapattoni, appears to have settled for a 4-4-2 formation for the tournament with Francesco Totti playing up front instead of his regular playmaking role.
And that could mean that Del Piero misses out on a starting place as Trapattoni is likely to prefer Christian Vieri alongside Totti up front.
The Italy coach fielded Totti as an out-and-out striker in Thursday's practice match against local side Vegalta Sendai.
Italy won the practice match 4-0 with Totti and Christian Vieri scoring two goals each.
Trapattoni said: "The team for the first game could be this one. I have seen the latest step forwards".
Italy played with a three-man defence throughout qualification but in recent friendlies, Trapattoni has opted for four in defence with Christian Panucci included at right-back.
As well as Panucci the other player to benefit from Trapattoni's tactical change of heart is Cristiano Doni who
played on the left flank against Vegalta.
The new formation will be a bitter disappointment for Del Piero, who is determined to make up for a disappointing World Cup in France four years ago.
Trapattoni's decision to change his approach on the eve of the finals in South Korea and Japan is a surprise given that Italy were unbeaten in qualification.