Politano message hints at bitterness over Italy snub | OneFootball

Napoli winger Matteo Politano courted controversy with his cryptic reaction to the Italy exit at EURO 2024, hinting at his irritation with being left out.

The Azzurri were knocked out of the tournament in the Round of 16 this evening following an embarrassing 2-0 defeat to Switzerland, with goals from Bologna man Remo Freuler and Ruben Vargas.

In the wake of the loss, Politano posted a cryptic message to his Instagram Stories.

It was only an emoji of a shrug with a smirking face, with no text.

This can be interpreted a number of different ways, but evidently the 30-year-old was upset at being dropped from the Italy squad for this tournament.

It was particularly galling when seeing players used out of position to cover his role in a 4-3-3 formation.

Politano had been an integral part of the Napoli side that won the Scudetto under Luciano Spalletti, so the player was naturally upset at being snubbed by the same coach for the Nazionale.

It is true that Napoli had a disastrous campaign this season, but Giovanni Di Lorenzo kept his place in the starting XI.

Politano scored nine goals with 10 assists in 48 competitive games for the Partenopei this term.

His record for Italy is not bad either, scoring three times in 12 senior caps along with one assist.