De Rossi, Verratti out of Italy qualifier in Croatia

ZAGREB (Reuters) - Italy face an injury crisis after midfielders Marco Verratti and Danielle De Rossi were ruled out of their Euro 2016 qualifier away to Croatia on Friday. With defenders Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini also on the sidelines, Italy coach Antonio Conte will have to field a makeshift side for the Group H clash in the Adriatic resort of Split to be played behind closed doors after Croatia were given a one-match crowd ban. Conte, who is likely to field an adventurous 4-3-3 formation after Verratti dropped out with a calf injury while De Rossi picked up a knock in practice, banked on the good form of evergreen 36-year old playmaker Andrea Pirlo. “He has the passion and enthusiasm of a boy,” Conte told a news conference in Split after Italy’s final training session on Thursday. “I don’t think Pirlo will leave football just yet because he still has a lot to give and I hope he will be around for some time to come. “If he gets tired tomorrow, I could shift (Claudio) Marchisio into his position but we will see how it goes.” Croatia coach Niko Kovac welcomed the return to full fitness of towering striker Mario Mandzukic as the hosts will miss injured playmaker Luka Modric and suspended defender Vedran Corluka. “Team doctors have told me that Mandzukic is ready and although both teams will miss some important players, there is still plenty of quality at either end to produce a good match,” he said. “It’s a specific situation because we will be deprived of home support and I hereby appeal on Croatian fans to leave out in future anything not related to the beautiful game. “This was designated to be a spectacular event for a capacity 40,000 home crowd but at least we’ve had fantastic working conditions and a warm welcome here.” Croatia top the group with 13 points from five games, two more than Italy and four ahead of third-placed Norway. (Writing by Zoran Milosavljevic in Belgrade, Editing by Justin Palmer)