Italy’s Code of Ethics has been criticised, but Cesare Prandelli explained the players agree with his approach.
Italy’s Code of Ethics has been criticised, but Cesare Prandelli explained the players agree with his approach.
Roma striker Mattia Destro was left out of the 42-man party undergoing fitness tests at Coverciano, but could still be called up later on along with those outside of Serie A.
He is currently on a four-match ban for lashing out a fist during a 3-1 victory over Cagliari” data-scaytid=”8″>Cagliari, which was caught using video evidence.
“I talked about four situations to the whole team, which I can reveal,” said the Coach in his Press conference.
“The first is our famous Code of Ethics, which will be valid even in the final month. In my view, anyone who breaks it will prove they can’t handle the stress of a World Cup and I am personally sick and tired of seeing this behaviour. Players for the Nazionale have to be able to handle the pressure and show internal strength, not react with elbows, punches or anything else.
“The players must be happy to be called up now, as they are part of the Nazionale for the present and above all the future, so even if they are not at the World Cup it won’t mean they are out of our plans.
“I told them the medical staff needed to focus on the statistics and read their current status so we know what to work on.
“The moment we decide to take the players to Coverciano for the World Cup preparations, we must all exclusively focus on the Azzurri.”
Prandelli was asked whether video evidence was the key to freezing a player out, or if he had to be banned by the Disciplinary Commission.
“When I introduced this famous Code of Ethics, I told the players that if I saw one of my players elbowing someone on the field, would he deserve to be in the Nazionale? They all replied: No.
“People asked why I called Mario Balotelli, it’s because he had already sat out a three-match ban. He’d done his time and after that he was free to be called up.”