Roma midfielder Daniele de Rossi has announced his international retirement.
De Rossi confirmed the decision in the aftermath of last night's stunning World Cup failure for Italy against Sweden.
The veteran said afterwards: "This is a closing bracket for me, it's a darkmoment for our football, very bad for us players that we've been part of this two-year cycle.
"The Federation now has a very important task, to start again from such an outrageous disappointment. It must start from the spirit my comrades have put into the field tonight.
"We did not deserve to go out for what we've seen in these 180 minutes, but congratulations to them."