Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Italy coach Roberto Mancini says he prefers to recall Mario Balotelli for his qualities as a player, not as a message against racism.
Balotelli has not been called up by Mancini in more than a year but Italian soccer federation president Gabriele Gravina has said naming him in the squad would send a strong message after the Brescia forward was racially abused recently.
Mancini said Monday that "if Balotelli gets another chance, it will be because he deserves it from a technical point of view."
Balotelli was included in Mancini's first two squads but again was omitted from upcoming European qualifiers against Bosnia-Herzegovina and Armenia.
Balotelli has long said his goal is to rejoin the national team for next year's European Championship.
The 29-year-old striker has scored two goals in seven matches this season.
___
More AP soccer https://apnews.com/Soccer and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
