De Rossi, Balotelli axed from Italian squad

Daniele De Rossi and Mario Balotelli have been left out of Italy’s squad to face Slovenia and Ukraine due to misconduct.

The high-profile pair have both recently been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, breaching the code of conduct set by manager Cesare Prandelli.

De Rossi was handed a three-match ban by UEFA for elbowing Shakhtar Donetsk’s Dario Srna in a recent Champions League encounter for his club Roma, while Balotelli received a straight red card for an ugly challenge on Dynamo Kiev’s Goran Popov while playing for Manchester City.

The indiscretions saw the duo fall foul of Prandelli’s new rules, which outline that players involved in the national team must meet high behavioural standards at club level.

The loss of the pair is a further blow to a squad also missing midfield playmaker Andrea Pirlo.

Marco Parolo has impressed this season for relegation-threatened Cesena and received his first international call-up, while Parma’s Sebastian Giovinco and Juventus’ Alessandro Matri will complement the likes of Antonio Cassano, Alberto Gilardino and Giuseppe Rossi in attack.

Italy travel to Slovenia for a Euro2012 qualifier on Friday before heading to Ukraine for a friendly on Tuesday.

Italy:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo), Emiliano Viviano (Bologna).

Defenders: Davide Astori (Cagliari), Federico Balzaretti (Palermo), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Domenico Criscito (Genoa), Daniele Gastaldello (Samp), Christian Maggio (Napoli), Andrea Ranocchia (Inter Milan), Davide Santon (Cesena).

Midfielders: Alberto Aquiliani (Juventus), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Stefano Mauri (Lazio), Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina), Thiago Motta (Inter Milan), Antonio Nocerino (Palermo), Marco Parolo (Cesena).

Forwards: Antonio Cassano (AC Milan), Alberto Gilardino (Fiorentina), Sebastian Giovinco (Parma), Alessandro Matri (Juventus), Giampaolo Pazzini (Inter Milan), Giuseppe Rossi (Villarreal).