AS Roma manager Jose Mourinho has backed Cristian Volpato’s decision to turn down a World Cup call up from the Socceroos.
Volpato, 18, made headlines this week after ultimately turning down Australia coach Graham Arnold’s repeated attempts to get him to Qatar in green and gold.
The young attacker is eligible to play for both the Socceroos and Italy with many believing this decision shows his focus is on representing the Azzurri.
Volpato himself has stressed his focus right now is on club football and the teenager did start for Roma in Serie A on Wednesday (local) in a 1-1 draw with Sassuolo.
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Mourinho was asked about Volpato’s international situation after the match and he seemed happy to have the youngster focusing on Roma and his own development.
“I think it is a personal decision and the club has not been involved,” Mourinho said.
“As a coach, for example, I would refuse to call up a player, even a young one, in a situation like that.
“What I understand is that he is at the beginning of his career and he’s growing with Roma by getting more minutes in consecutive matches.
“It’s not like last year where he played just one game against Verona and then he didn’t play again. I think he has now played four games in a row.
“He is in a development phase where I think he has to focus on building his future and not on certain decisions where maybe someone else wants to accelerate a process that should not be sped up.”
Volpato has quickly become somewhat of a regular for Roma this season making three appearances in Serie A and a further three in the UEFA Europa League.
He scored and claimed an assist for Mourinho’s side on October 31 in a 3-1 win over Hellas Verona.
Volpato’s start against Sassuolo was his first for Roma in Serie A and he played 73 minutes before being replaced.
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