Roma defender Roger Ibanez refuses to rule out playing for Italy and reveals José Mourinho warned him about attending the Olympic Games this summer.
The 22-year-old was born in Brazil, but has Uruguay and Italian passports. Therefore he is eligible to play for three different national teams.
He could have joined the Brazilian Olympic squad in Brazil over the summer, but he eventually didn’t take part in the competition.
“Mourinho knew how much I wanted it, he only told me to be careful because had I played the Olympics, I would have missed the pre-season, needing to recover the lost ground,” Ibanez told Il Corriere dello Sport.
“If it were up to me, I would have gone, we even won the gold medal, but Roma decided that it was better not to go, so it’s fine anyway.
“You always want to learn with a coach like Mourinho, he’s already taught me so many things.
“I was born in Brazil and I feel Brazilian,” the defender continued.
“I’d like to play in the Seleçao, but let’s see what happens because I have Italian and Uruguayan passports, so I’ll listen to who will call me.
“Football has changed, I’ve spoken with the ‘Brazilian players’ of Italy national team. [Rafael] Toloi is a friend of mine, he was a point of reference when I was at Atalanta. Let’s see what happens.”
The Giallorossi travel to the Allianz Stadium to face Juventus on Sunday.
“It’s a special game. We’ve been preparing for it for days, they are a big team, but we are improving too,” the defender concluded.