Daniele De Rossi has expressed his regret for Italy teammate Riccardo Montolivo who will miss the World Cup after fracturing his shinbone in Saturday night's warm-up match against the Republic of Ireland.
The AC Milan captain was injured in a challenge with Alex Pierce during the goalless draw at Craven Cottage.
"Today is a sad day,'' De Rossi told Gazzetta dello Sport. "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 teammate, 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.''
Montolivo travelled to Milan via air ambulance ahead of surgery on Sunday, while the rest of the Italy squad returned to their base in Coverciano, Florence.
"We know that this is part of football but we are all shocked,'' coach Cesare Prandelli said after the match. "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 teammates, not only on the pitch but off it.''
The injury to Montolivo overshadowed the game against the Republic.
"The game was conditioned by Montolivo's injury,'' Prandelli said. "We had started the game so well and things were looking good but once that happen, my players were affected psychologically. I will decide after Sunday's training session whether to take 24 hours more to name the final squad.''
Prandelli is considering adding two more players to his travelling party to Brazil.
Italy can replace any player in the squad up to 24 hours before their opening game against England in Manaus on June 14.
"I may take one or two more players (besides the 23) to Brazil,'' he said. "But we will see.''
Prandelli was at least boosted by Torino defender Matteo Darmian, who made his senior debut against Ireland and boosted his World Cup claims.
"I'm really happy for Matteo,'' Prandelli said. "He had a fantastic debut and he did really well.''
Giuseppe Rossi was another player who was looking to impress. The Fiorentina striker, who recently returned from a right knee injury that had sidelined him for four months, played for 70 minutes against Ireland and created several chances.
"I felt good on the pitch,'' Rossi said. "We had our chances although at the end, we were a little bit tired from the work we had carried out in training this week.''
Italy face Luxembourg on Wednesday in Perugia in what is their final warm-up before travelling to Brazil.