Wednesday, 4th June, 2014
Italy manager Cesare Prandelli has revealed his reason for dropping Giuseppe Rossi from his 23-man World Cup squad.
The Fiorentina striker, who picked up a cruciate ligament injury in January which forced him out of action for almost four months, was not included in Prandelli’s final World Cup squad, despite recovering from his knee injury.
And the 27-year-old took to Twitter to vent his frustration at being omitted from Italy’s World Cup squad.
However Prandelli, who played Rossi for 71 minutes in Italy’s goalless draw with Ireland at the weekend, insisted that he informed the forward of his decision “several times.”
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The manager went on to add that he was not pleased with Rossi’s outing against Ireland as the former Manchester United player failed to show a “striker’s performance.”
"I said several times – Beppe [Rossi], you’re not in the 23 [man squad],” Prandelli told FIFA’s official site.
“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."
Italy are placed in Group D of the World Cup alongside Costa Rica and former champions England and Uruguay.
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