Giampiero Ventura “will meet” with Mario Balotelli, but Federico Fazio won’t be given an Italy call.
Roma centre-back Fazio declared last week that he could play for the Azzurri in the future, but the CT believes he’s too old to win a first cap.
“Everyone wants to be Italian, the only one we need is Papu Gomez and he’s not eligible!” Ventura laughed in a Press conference at Coverciano.
Giampiero Ventura “will meet” with Mario Balotelli, but Federico Fazio won’t be given an Italy call.
Roma centre-back Fazio declared last week that he could play for the Azzurri in the future, but the CT believes he’s too old to win a first cap.
“Everyone wants to be Italian, the only one we need is Papu Gomez and he’s not eligible!” Ventura laughed in a Press conference at Coverciano.
“Seriously though, it’s one thing being eligible and another being called. Fazio is playing for Roma, he’s important, he’s going through a period of great physical and mental form.
“But… he’s 30-years-old. If I have to play someone over 30 then it’s better that it’s [Andrea] Barzagli. [Amadou] Diawara I’ve mentioned, but we’ll only see when it’s official and possible.”
Mario Balotelli hasn’t featured since the 2014 World Cup, and after a bright start to life at Nice he’s been sent-off twice in his last six matches, is he still in contention?
“I speak with everyone, you can’t expect to be treated with respect if you don’t offer it yourself. I’ve made a commitment and I’ll speak with Balotelli.
“He plays, if he has one day a week I should go to Nice. But then we’d have 500 cameras. But we’ll meet with Balotelli.
“We haven’t been able to meet yet, we’ve made a lot of calls, not me but [Gabriele] Oriali. We’ll meet, but no-one can argue with Balotelli in terms of his ability, it's all the other stuff.
"So far there haven't been positive signs. The facts tell you that Balotelli must change, we hope he does because it would be a shame if he threw his talent away."