Italy's World Cup hopes suffered a major setback yesterday when Juventus's defensive lynchpin, Ciro Ferrara, broke his leg in two places and was ruled out for the rest of the season.

He suffered the double break in his left leg in a 21st-minute tackle by Lecce midfielder Alessandro Conticchio and was rushed to a nearby hospital for an X-ray.

He returned to Turin with the rest of the Juventus squad last night and will undergo surgery today.