Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi expressed his regret at seeing his international teammate Riccardo Montolivo ruled out of the World Cup 2014 due to injury. AC Milan midfielder suffered a serious injury that is likely to see him miss the next few months of action. The injury, though, is a major blow for Italy’s hopes of winning the World Cup. Montolivo is an important player for the national team. After learning about the injury, De Rossi said that it is extremely sad to know that a key player like Montolivo shall be unavailable.

Further, he also says that being ruled out of such a major tournament like the World Cup with an injury just days before the tournament is extremely painful. Italy’s preparations for the World Cup 2014 have not been great so far. They have failed to win any of the warm-up friendly matches, which has raised doubts about their ability to qualify for the latter stages of the competition. Despite the injury troubles, De Rossi is remaining confident.
Prandelli is expected to name a replacement for Montolivo in the next few days. The former Fiorentina manager accepted that the absence of the AC Milan midfielder will be a major blow to the team.

“Today is a sad day. In the world of football there is nothing uglier than an injury, especially on the eve of such an important tournament as the World Cup. Losing a team-mate, particularly one of the old guard, is always bad. He’s a guy who is always positive, always working hard so you feel even worse,” said the Roma midfielder. “We know that this is part of football but we are all shocked. Our thoughts are with Riccardo. He is an important player for us and has been, in the past few years, an example to all his team-mates, not only on the pitch but off it,” said Prandelli.