Wesley Sneijder is disappointed that he won’t be facing Mario Balotelli in tonight’s Italy-Holland friendly.
The two teams will meet in Bari, but Balotelli has been omitted from the squad by new boss Antonio Conte.
Wesley Sneijder is disappointed that he won’t be facing Mario Balotelli in tonight’s Italy-Holland friendly.
The two teams will meet in Bari, but Balotelli has been omitted from the squad by new boss Antonio Conte.
“It’s better for us that he isn’t playing as he would have perhaps scored past us,” the playmaker told the Gazzetta dello Sport.
“I’m saddened though, as I haven’t seen him in a while. I would have happily greeted him. Mario is a nice mad guy, he was like that when we were together at Inter.”
Conte has replaced Cesare Prandelli on the Italy bench after the disastrous showing at the World Cup. Prandelli is now in charge of Sneijder with Galatasaray.
“I like Prandelli,” the 30-year-old continued. “He always looks to talk to his players and he wants his teams to play good football.
“Systems are not everything in football. A 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3 is not the point. The important thing is playing with the right attitude and I think Prandelli is primarily working on that aspect.”