Roma manager Jose Mourinho says Australia are trying to “accelerate a process that shouldn’t be accelerated” after offering teenager Cristian Volpato a place in the World Cup squad.
On Wednesday, Volpato opened up about his decision to turn down a place, insisting that any decision on his international future “runs the risk of being extremely premature”.
Socceroos boss Graham Arnold confirmed he had offered Volpato a place in the 26-man squad bound for Qatar amid several phone calls between the pair in the days leading up to the announcement.
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Just hours before the squad was announced, the Roma midfielder let Arnold know he would not be representing his home nation.
Volpato has Italian eligibility and has represented the nation at youth level, but playing for Australia at the World Cup could have linked him to the green and gold permanently.
His emerging stardom has seen him thrust into the mix to represent Italy, who failed to qualify for the 2022 World Cup but clearly have a more successful international history.
Mourinho believes Arnold and the Socceroos called up the 18-year-old too early in his career and he is better off not heading to Qatar.
Volpato refuses the place in the World Cup! | 01:06
“I think it’s a personal decision and the club has not been involved,” Mourinho said in comments translated from Italian.
“As a coach, for example, I would refuse to call up a player, even a young one, in a situation like this.
“What I understand is that he is at the beginning of his career and that he is growing with Roma by getting more minutes in consecutive games. It’s not like last year where he only played one game against Verona and then didn’t play again. I think he’s played four games in a row now.
“He is in a phase of development where I think he should focus on building his future and not on certain decisions where maybe someone else wants to accelerate a process that should not be accelerated.
Earlier Wednesday, Volpato took to Instagram to explain why he’ll be watching the show’s event from afar.
“I have seen a lot of speculation about decisions that I have allegedly made at international level: the truth is that I am still at the beginning of my professional career and I am fully focused on continuing this process in Rome,” said Volpato.
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“Making any kind of rash decision about my international future at this early stage risks being extremely premature.
“I will have plenty of time to make the decision that I feel is right, but right now I know that my focus has to be to keep working hard every day to continue to improve as a player.
“For now, it’s time to focus on the game against Sassuolo!”
Although Volpato has put his international future on hold for the time being, Arnold, who is highly unlikely to remain in charge when the 2026 World Cup arrives, hopes the teenager can finish in the green and gold.
“You have to understand it’s a big decision for the kid, he made that decision and declined our opportunity to come and play Australia in the World Cup,” Arnold said. Fox Sports News.
“That doesn’t mean I won’t do it in the future.
“He’s a young boy, he’s just starting his football journey. He is a beautiful child and I understand the difficult decision he had to make and we will move on.”