A furious Gian Piero Gasperini has called for an end to the ‘destruction’ of international breaks after Atalanta lost Duvan Zapata for several weeks.
Zapata suffered a thigh injury during Colombia’s dead-rubber friendly with Chile last week, and Gasperini slammed the “useless” nature of such fixtures.
“I reacted with an expletive…” the Coach told Corriere dello Sport.
A furious Gian Piero Gasperini has called for an end to the ‘destruction’ of international breaks after Atalanta lost Duvan Zapata for several weeks.
Zapata suffered a thigh injury during Colombia’s dead-rubber friendly with Chile last week, and Gasperini slammed the “useless” nature of such fixtures.
“I reacted with an expletive…” the Coach told Corriere dello Sport.
“I saw the incident and it was clear at the time that he got hurt. We pay a hefty bill to national teams and this isn’t a good thing.
“It’s useless for players to go around the world and play in friendlies that have no meaning: they’re subjected to a tour de force for 12-13 days and there’s nothing at the end of it.
“Then we complain if there are more injuries… In some cases, no-one watches the games.
“They’re useless both technically and tactically, as well as in terms of a spectacle.
“We hope this ‘destruction’ of national teams ends: the League and cups can’t be stopped three times in three months.
“At this point, it’s better to put everything into just one international break.”