Italy defender Alessandro Nesta has been told he will play no further part in the World Cup Finals after the Azzurri team doctor ruled the AC Milan centre-back out of Sunday's World Cup final against France in Berlin on Sunday.

30-year-old Nesta has not played since injuring his groin during Italy's final Group E game against Czech Republic on June 22, but had started training with the rest of the Italian squad in the past few days.

But now, after having been assessed by the Italian medical team on Thursday, the Azzurri have now ruled the former Lazio star out of the tournament.

“He's definitely not available,” Italy's team doctor, Enrico Castellacci told reporters on Thursday.

It now means that Inter Milan’s Marco Materazzi, who has formed a convincing partnership in the centre of the Italian defence with Juventus’ Fabio Cannavaro, will both be virtually guaranteed to start the crucial match against France on Sunday.

Bookmark/Search this post with:

delicious | digg | google | yahoo | technorati