Leonardo Bonucci has come to the defence of Italy players who have had to leave the Azzurri camp due to injury, saying that they deserve more respect.
There have been players such as Giorgio Chiellini, Lorenzo Pellegrini, and Nicolo Zaniolo that are not a part of the national team and the Juventus defender claimed that it is not because they are prioritising club football over international duty.
“I did my first training session with the team yesterday morning and out of everything, to say that Bonucci pulled out for a match seems ridiculous to me,” Bonucci said in his press conference.
“The others had to forfeit even though there is an important game to play, perhaps we need to stop thinking that one prefers to play one match or another.
“Respect is needed, no one in the group has ever thought of preserving themselves in the national team to be available to the clubs or vice versa.
“For us, it is an honour and a pleasure to be present and put on the field everything we have for the national team.”
Italy will play Switzerland in their next World Cup qualifier on Friday evening in Rome.
