Riccardo Montolivo breaks leg in friendly: Out Of The World Cup

Italy will have to navigate group D without Ricardo Montolivo who lasted just 8 minutes in tonight's friendly at Craven Cottage. Montolivo who was earning his 58th international cap will surely be devastated tonight after he was carted off following a challenge by Reading's Alex Pearce.

It will be a bitter blow for Italy who face England in their opener, especially as Montolivo has enjoyed some fantastic form this season for AC Milan.

Italian manager Cesare Prandelli will need to shuffle the pack now one of his starting midfielders will be watching the game from home. Former Liverpool man Alberto Aquilani came on in place of the injured AC Milan man and will attempt to stake his claim for a starting spot in Italy's last warm-up game.

There was some good news for the Azzurri as talismanic striker Giuseppe Rossi came through 70 minutes after recovering from a serious knee injury.