Ex-player says Italy ‘prejudice’ cost Flamengo’s Jorginho a call-up | OneFootball

Jorginho was on coach Gennaro Gattuso’s preliminary list

Italy is out of the World Cup for the third straight time. On Tuesday (31), the Italian National Team was knocked out in the playoff against Bosnia on penalties. With the ‘Azzurri’ eliminated, Jorginho’s absence from the squad became a topic of discussion again. Former striker Éder Citadin said the Flamengo player deserved to be called up.

— I see a bit of that (prejudice against naturalized foreign players) in this situation. As I said about Jorginho, with all due respect to Barella and Locatelli, who are good players, but I think that with Jorginho, who won the Euros, who plays for Flamengo, who plays in high-pressure matches, who has a mentality he can pass on to these young players — he said, before concluding:

— I think there is that fear (of calling up foreign players). It has never been talked about this much in the newspapers during this period, with Jorginho being called up. If you go to clubs that have been developing well at youth level, like Atalanta, Udinese, and Inter Milan, there are many foreigners in the youth teams. I think there needs to be a bit more openness — he concluded in an interview with ‘ESPN’.

When was Jorginho’s last appearance for Italy?

The last time Jorginho took the field for Italy was in the 2024 season, at the European Championship. Since then, the Flamengo midfielder has not worn the ‘Azzurra’ shirt again. However, the player was hoping for qualification to the World Cup.

That is because Jorginho was included on Italy’s preliminary list for the matches against Northern Ireland and Bosnia in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Therefore, even though he did not take part in the matches, the Flamengo midfielder was on coach Gattuso’s radar.

What is Flamengo’s next match?

With Jorginho available, Flamengo face Red Bull Bragantino this Thursday (02). The match kicks off at 9:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at Estádio Cicero de Souza Marques, in Bragança Paulista, for the ninth round of the Brasileirão.

So, as tradition dictates, Coluna do Fla will bring all the details of the match between Flamengo and Bragantino through YouTube, the website, and social media. However, Globo (free-to-air) and Premiere (pay-per-view) will broadcast the Brasileirão clash.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.