Roma talent Cristian Volpato explained why he decided not to accept the call up to the Australian national team for the upcoming World Cup in Qatar.
The 18-year-old forward started to break into the Giallorossi first team last year under Jose Mourinho and has featured a handful of times already again this season, scoring one goal and providing one assist across his five first team appearances this campaign.
Volpato was born in the Camperdown suburb of Sydney and left the Western Sydney Wanderers Youth setup for Roma in January 2020.
Writing on his Instagram story, Volpato explained the reasons behind his decision to reject Australia’s call up for the World Cup.
“I’ve seen lots of speculation about decisions I have supposedly taken at international level: the truth is that I am still just at the start of my professional career and I am totally focused on continuing that process at Roma.
“Making any sort of rushed decision about my international future at this early stage risks being extremely premature.
“There will be plenty of time for me to take the decision that feels right for me, but right now I know my focus needs to be on continuing to work hard each and every day in order to continue improving as a player. For now, it’s time to focus on the game against Sassuolo!”
Volpato’s grandfather Sergio moved to Australia from a town called Fossalunga in the Region of Veneto. His father Oscar explained in an interview with Il Gazzettino in 2020 that his son started out with the academy of AC Milan Sydney before having trials with Atalanta and Bologna. He then bounced around the A League youth system before finding his footing with Roma.