Injured Vieri to miss World Cup

Christian Vieri Vieri has scored three goals in seven games since joining Monaco. Italy striker Christian Vieri has been ruled out of the World Cup. The Monaco forward injured his left knee when he collided with Bernard Mendy during his side's 1-1 draw with Paris St Germain on 26 March. Italy coach Marcello Lippi said: "I now have a clear idea of my 23 players for the World Cup because Vieri has already had an operation and is not available."

The Italian squad will be announced on Monday, which is also Fifa's deadline for World Cup squads.

The 32-year-old played for Italy at the 2002 World Cup and moved to the French side in January.

Vieri had strong hopes of making the squad, although coach Marcello Lippi has chosen to play Luca Toni and Gilardino up front in recent matches.

Vieri moved from AC Milan to Monaco in January in a bid to get more first-team football to boost his chances of making the Italy squad.

He has scored 23 goals in 49 matches for Italy.

Lippi has not been afraid to drop Italy's established stars since taking over as coach and Fiorentina striker Toni rewarded the coach's bravery by finishing as Italy's top scorer in the qualifiers with four goals.