The exclusion of Giuseppe Rossi from Italy’s 23-men squad for World Cup caused a bit of controversy as many Azzurri fans were questioning that decision since the Fiorentina striker did put in a positive performance last season, despite suffering a quite long injury period.
Previous rumors swirling in media suggested that Rossi’s physical condition was the main reason for striker being left out from the final squad, but apparently that’s not why Prandelli excluded the ex-Manchester United man.
Speaking in a recent press conference, Prandelli finally revealed his decision in leaving out Rossi was simply because of technical reason as the striker wasn’t able to provide something extra that is required of him.
“I said several times — Beppe, you’re not in the 23 (man squad). Before the Ireland game I said that in physical terms he was fine but that I expected to see something extra from him. I wanted to see a striker’s performance, but I didn’t see what I wanted to see,” Prandelli explained as quoted on FIFA.
The head coach obviously keen on clearing things out as he doesn’t want any controversy disturbing the team’s dressing room atmosphere as that kind of situation could be troubling in Brazil.
Italy themselves are gearing up for a friendly against Luxembourg this midweek, before eventually flying to Brazil and begin their training camp there.
