Italy striker Mario Balotelli has been ruled out of the rest of the Confederations Cup because of a thigh injury. Balotelli, aged 22, scored in Italy's group matches against Mexico and Japan. He played the whole match in Italy's 4-2 defeat to Brazil but will now miss Thursday's semi-final against Spain.
Team doctor Enrico Castellacci said: "The player cannot recover between now and the final on Sunday. We prefer not to take any risks. In agreement with the coach Cesare Prandelli, it was decided to send him back to Milan after speaking to the medical staff at AC Milan, who will look after him."
Balotelli had played as the first choice central forward in Italy's three group games, and now coach Prandelli has to choose between Alberto Gilardino, Sebastian Giovinco and Stephan El Shaarawy for the match with Spain.
Italy lost last year's Euro 2012 final 4-0 to Spain, and Prandelli admitted that Balotelli's absence may lead to a change of formation. "Without Mario, we need to work even more at a collective level," Prandelli said. "We'll have players with different characteristics, but the aim is to make the team even more compact." The good news for Italy is that midfielder Andrea Pirlo may be fit to face Spain after he missed the Brazil match with a calf injury.
Here are the outright tournament win odds at Bet365 with four teams left in the competition:
Spain - 11/10
Brazil - 11/8
Italy - 8/1
Uruguay - 14/1
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