Giuseppe Rossi's incredible story doesn't have a happy ending.

The American-born forward, hampered throughout his career by a series of debilitating knee injuries, has been excluded from Italy's 23-man World Cup squad, which was released by manager Cesare Prandelli on Sunday.

To say the news came as a shock to many supporters is an understatement. Suffice it to say, the word 'gutted' made its fair share of appearances on social media in the immediate aftermath of the announcement.

The news is devastating for the Fiorentina striker, who worked so admirably to come back after enduring yet another setback with his troublesome right knee in January.

Devastated for Rossi. Worked so hard to come back again and again, only to miss out now because of a rotten challenge from Rinaudo. — Paolo Bandini (@Paolo_Bandini) June 1, 2014

Rossi, who featured in Saturday's friendly against Ireland and performed admirably despite not seeing much of the ball, was beaten out by pint-sized Napoli youngster Lorenzo Insigne, who at 22 years old will likely be the fifth option in a supremely talented group of attackers.

Other cuts include Riccardo Montolivo, whose hopes of featuring in Brazil came to a terrible end when he suffered a broken tibia in the aforementioned friendly at Craven Cottage.

Defenders Christian Maggio, Andrea Ranocchia, Manuel Pasqual along with midfielder Romulo and striker Mattia Destro also received the unfortunate news of their omission on Sunday.

Here is the full squad that Prandelli has decided to take with him to Brazil:

Goalkeepers

Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain), Mattia Perin (Genoa)

Defenders

Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Ignazio Abate (Milan), Gabriel Paletta (Parma), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Matteo Darmian (Torino)

Midfielders

Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Parolo (Parma), Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina)

Forwards

Mario Balotelli (Milan), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli), Antonio Cassano (Parma), Alessio Cerci (Torino)

Italy will begin their World Cup adventure on June 14 with a match against England.