Australia coach Graham Arnold said on Wednesday that AS Roma's young attacking midfielder Cristian Volpato has rejected several attempts to convince him to play for the Socceroos at the World Cup in Qatar.
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The 18-year-old was born in Sydney but has so far played for Italy's Under-19 and Under-20 sides.
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He made his Serie A debut last year and has scored twice in five league appearances, including a goal and an assist in the 3-1 win at Verona ten days ago.
Arnold, who unveiled his 26-man squad for Qatar on Tuesday, said he tried to persuade Volpato "
until 11 p.m.
" but respected his decision.
"
It's not my decision, I spoke to Cristian yesterday three times, and before that I spoke to him many times
," he told reporters.
“
I more or less told him yesterday that he was in the group of 26, he wanted to think about it, he wanted to talk to the people who surround him and who help guide his career
.
He came back to me last night and declined the offer to play for Australia at the World Cup
,” summed up Arnold, who included future Newcastle United striker Garang Kuol, 18, in his group for Qatar.
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Mourinho comes to his defense
After being the target of criticism from Australian fans on social media, Volpato wrote on Instagram that he has yet to make a decision about his international future.
"
I'm still at the start of my professional career and I'm totally focused on continuing this process at Roma
," he explained.
"
Making any sort of hasty decision about my international future at this early stage is likely to be extremely premature
," he said.
His coach at Roma, José Mourinho said Volpato should not be in a rush to sign with Italy or Australia.
"
He is currently in a phase of development where he must focus on building his future and not on certain decisions that perhaps others want to advance to speed up a process that should not be accelerated
," said the Portuguese. .
