Leonardo Bonucci ruled out of the rest of the World Cup with groin strain

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It's been a fantastic World Cup campaign so far for the Italians, unbeatan, an 11 goal advantage over their opponents, and a relatively straightforward quarterfinal coming up against Croatia. However, on the injury front, things have just taken a turn for the worse as star defender Leonardo Bonucci has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament.

Four minutes into the second half against Portugal, Bonucci had burst out of defense with the ball. However, following a slightly large touch and a lunge to re-control the ball, the Juventus man suddenly pulled up limp and crumpled to the ground. The 31 year old had to be stretchered off and replaced my teammate Davide Astori.

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Another one bites the dust: Bonucci (above) will join teammate Lorenzo Insigne on the sidelines for the remainder of the World Cup.

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Leonardo Bonucci will miss 3 weeks with his groin strain, just enough to rule him out for the final definitively. The Juventus defender joins Inter Milan superstar Lorenzo Insigne on the injury list; both players will not feature against this tournament.

Bonucci has racked up 86 caps over the years, and his experience will be sorely missed at the back. He and Andrea Ranocchia are widely praised as the best central defensive pairing in international football, especially with Daniele De Rossi sitting in front of them. Davide Astori will now have to take up the reigns in the heart of the Azzurri defense.

Astori will be put to the test in three days' time when Italy takes on Croatia in the quarterfinals in an attempt to reach their first World Cup semifinals since 2006, when they won the trophy for the fourth time.

We want a regen!

2014-07-24 18:31#186132 Neal : Another one bites the dust

Last time you ever use the word 'bite' in any of your stories, I bet!

Yeah ^

Walter: I have a regen named Mattia Ronconi!! So what if he's the only one

Justice: To the contrary, I think I'll start using it more

AaronHJFT96: No^

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Once the quarterfinals have begun, the real tensions of the World Cup emerge. Each of the eight remaining teams are just one match away from reaching the semifinals, and then just 90 minutes more from reaching the World Cup final and perhaps attaining immortality.

In this particular quarterfinal, heavy favorites Italy were looking to reach the semfinals against massive underdogs Croatia. Led by Dinamo Zagreb striker Antonio Dusak, who is a target of Giuseppe Bergomi's Inter Milan side, the Croats knew that an upset could be in the offing, but only if they could find a way to push back the rolling tide of the Azzurri.

The starting lineups for the quarterfinal were as follows:

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Italy Starting XI (4-1-2-1-2)
Salvatore Sirigu; Alessandro Crescenzi, Andrea Ranocchia, Davide Astori, Guilherme Siqueira; Daniele De Rossi (C); Andrea Poli, Lorenzo Crisetig; Sebastian Giovinco; Alberto Paloschi, Mattia Destro

Croatia Starting XI (4-4-2)
Matej Delac; Sime Vrsaljko, Domagoj Vida (C), Robert Domjancic, Ivan Strinic; Milan Badelj, Ivan Rakitic, Vedran Corluka, Dejan Skolnik; Antonio Dusak, Mario Mandzukic

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Giuseppe Bergomi made two changes to the side that defeated Portugal in the Round of 16. The first of the changes was enforced, as Davide Astori replaced Juventus teammate Leonardo Bonucci in central defense after the latter's injury. Lorenzo Crisetig also returned to the starting lineup in place of Claudio Marchisio.

Alberto Paloschi retained his place in the starting lineup after his goal four minutes from time sealed the victory against Portugal, and four minutes into the match against Croatia, he was at it again. Alessandro Crescenzi had found himself in acres of space on the right flank and whipped in a delightful ball to the near post. Paloschi was quickest to react and was on the spot to tap home from close range and give Italy an early 1-0 advantage.

Croatia had lined up in a 4-4-2 and, as was gathered from the first four minutes of the match, was set up to try and soak up pressure before counterattacking. Paloschi's early goal destroyed any hopes of doing that, however, and suddenly Ivan Rakitic had to urge his men forward into a more attacking stance in an attempt to get a quick equalizer.

About half an hour into the match, Paloschi doubled the Azzurri's lead. The Parma superstar had made a lung-busting run from deep and was picked out beautifully by Guilherme Siqueira's lofted through ball. The 28 year old attacker, who led the Serie A in goals last season, lunged at the ball with his head, thundering the ball in past the helpless Matej Delac to make the score 2-0 heading into halftime.

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Alberto Paloschi's third and fourth goals of the tournament, both on the end of crosses from Italy's fullbacks, gave the Azzurri a commanding 2-0 halftime lead.

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Three minutes after the break, it seemed as though Paloschi had gotten Italy's second hattrick of the World Cup. Siqueira's deadly cross the back post had been headed back across by Andrea Poli, and Paloschi had lashed the ball home with his right foot. However, Poli had been offside when Siqueira's cross had come in, and the goal was disallowed.

Andrea Romano and Gianluca Caprari were brought on midway through the second half to rest the tired-looking Andrea Poli and Alberto Paloschi, both of whom had fantastic games. Diego, the Brazilian-born defender, was also brought on at left back to shore up the back line, replacing Guilherme Siquera who seemed to have picked up a slight knock.

With about ten minutes remaining in the match, Mattia Destro finished off the resilient Croatian side. Daniele De Rossi had threaded the needle beautifully to play in Lorenzo Crisetig on the right side of the box, through on goal. Unselfishly, the Inter Milan youth product cut the ball back to club teammate Mattia Destro to easily slot home from 10 yards and seal the 3-0 victory.

"We played brilliantly," said Giuseppe Bergomi after the match, still smiling. "To think, this team missed out on the last two World Cups after winning in 2006, and now we are back in the semifinals. One more match, and then we are where we deserve to be; the final."

Did you lose? Nope, won again. Well done I guess...

Stop winning ok?

AaronHJFT96: Sorry to disappoint?

Jack: No

I'm not like the others. Good job Neal, good win

Another great update, another win

fzemdegs: Thank you for your support, my friend

pompeyblue: On to the semis!

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There are just four games remaining in this World Cup. It's been a brilliant spectacle thus far, full of unbelievably talented players and end to end, action packed football. Now, however, we are down to just four teams in the semifinals, vying for a place in football history: Brazil, Argentina, Denmark, and Italy.

The first semifinal is in three days' time, and will be contested between Italy and Argentina. Both teams have previously won the World Cup, the Italians four times and the Argentines twice. Despite the historical advantage, however, the Azzurri are considered the underdogs for just one reason; Lionel Messi.

The Barcelona legend has won nine consecutive Ballon D'Or awards and has scored 57 goals in 114 caps in Argentina, a stellar record. The diminutive superstar has the ability to change any game in a heartbeat, but we will come up against stiff opposition in the form of Italy's defense, which has only conceded one goal all tournament.

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Salvatore Sirigu has only conceded once (against Uruguay) this tournament, but he will face another level of opposition entirely in the forms of Messi, Aguero, and Di Maria.

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To make matters worse for the Italians, who are already missing defensive linchpin Leonardo Bonucci through injury, all-time cap leader and legendary captain Daniele De Rossi will miss it through an accumulation of yellow cards. Thus, Andrea Ranocchia and Davide Astori will likely have young Lorenzo Crisetig sitting in front of them.

It will be a tight game, certainly, but we predict Argentina to just about pip their European rivals to the World Cup final with a 1-0 victory.

Brazil and Denmark crashed out early in the knockout stages, losing to eventual finalists Senegal and Holland respectively. Since then, the two nations have followed very different paths; Brazil has fallen apart, being knocked out of the top 10 on some occasions, while Denmark, led by current Italy coach Giuseppe Bergomi at the time, finished in the semifinals of the European Championships and rose to 2nd in the world.

Nobody can doubt the talent in the Selecao side. Manchester United superstar Neymar has already scored 4 goals this tournament, and he is aided by Inter Milan trio Ademilson, Emerson Luiz, and Rogerio, and when those players play well, no team can stop them. The trick has been getting them to play well, and it seems the new manager Tite has got them gelling just in time.

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David Luiz has been a leader for Brazil this tournament, turning in consistent, solid defensive displays and playing out of the back with ease.

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Denmark will be a stern test for the South American giants, however. Despite being the only team left to have never won the World Cup, Die Rod-Hvide were considered the dark horses of this tournament at the start and are proving why. Led by Nicklas Helenius, who has scored in the last two wins over England and Germany, the Danes might just find themselves in the final.

In the end, though, we believe the Brazilians simply have too much talent at their disposal and will win comfortably at 2-0. Thus, our prediction leads us to a Superclassico final between Argentina and Brazil. The full tree up to this point is as follows:

Imagine an Italy vs Denmark for teh final... who shall win

That Switz... team looks decent, and Portu- looks like a good team as well!
No kidding though, nice update, I can see a lot of work has gone into this. Good luck in the semi's!