Daniele De Rossi looks set to miss Italy’s crucial World Cup Group D encounter with Uruguay on Tuesday with a calf injury, according to their team doctor.
Enrico Castellacci says that De Rossi injured his calf muscle during the second half of Friday's 1-0 loss to Costa Rica and needs "several days" to recover.
The influential Roma midfielder, capped 96 times by his country, played the full 90 minutes in Recife but was seen limping after the match.
The four-time world champions were 2-1 winners over England in their World Cup opener in Manaus and need at least a draw against Uruguay to advance from Group D.
De Rossi could be replaced in the Italy starting line-up by Paris St Germain midfielder Marco Verrati, who started the match against England.
Meanwhile, Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez believes the pressure is on his side ahead of Tuesday’s game in Natal.
Uruguay must win the match to secure their place in the last 16 but Tabarez insists his squad can cope despite the magnitude of the occasion.
“Obviously we're going to be under pressure because, of the three possible results (a win, draw and defeat), only one is useful to us, but we won't play desperately," he said.
"I have a group who are used to resisting pressure and who react to it in a good way. The pressure was worse against England, or do you think that we'd gone shopping?
"They've been world champions four times and we have a lot of respect for them. It will be a tough challenge for us but I believe we'll have our chances."
