Marco Parolo was content with his “official debut,” although he revealed a misunderstanding with Mario Balotelli.

Click here to watch highlights of Italy-Nigeria.

Marco Parolo was content with his “official debut,” although he revealed a misunderstanding with Mario Balotelli.

Click here to watch highlights of Italy-Nigeria.

The Parma midfielder came off the bench in the 2-2 draw with Nigeria, hit the upright and wasted several great scoring opportunities. He had one previous cap, in March 2011.

“I think this should count as my official debut, as last time I was on for two minutes and I think didn’t even touch the ball!” he told Rai Sport.

“It’s a shame, as I had those chances and they could’ve done better, while I was a little unlucky on another occasion. I hope to get the chance to get back into the Italy side and score.”

On one particularly good opportunity, Parolo ballooned over when taking the ball off Balotelli.

“We started laughing! I saw a figure looming behind me and thought I was anticipating a Nigerian defender, but afterwards I turned round and realised it was Mario! Perhaps I was so eager to score that it affected my sharpness.

“We did very well in the second half, tried to score and win the game right to the end. We hit the woodwork twice and it was a good performance.”

Giuseppe Rossi and Emanuele Giaccherini got the goals at Craven Cottage.

“It would’ve been great to have Giaccherini and Parolo on the scoresheet, two ex-Cesena players!

“The next call-ups will be in March and I’ll do everything I can to convince the Coach that I’m worth betting on. Of course, that means doing well for Parma, which is the ideal club to work in.”

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