The Roma playmaker’s agent has opened up to the Azzurri, even though the player had already rejected Spalletti’s call for Euro 2024. Here’s what the regulation says
Matias Soulé in the national team? The openness of the agent of the Argentinian from Roma gives hope to the Azzurri, who in the past had already tried to convince him to manage Spalletti, only to clash with his desire to chase the dream of wearing the Albiceleste shirt. “At the time I was playing at Frosinone and my coach (Di Francesco, ed.) knew the former coach well. I was sleeping at Dybala’s house in Rome when I received a message from the coach: “Mati, are you okay? Spalletti will call you to summon you.” And in fact he called me, complimented me because I was doing very well and said that he wanted me in the national team because he knew that I had an Italian passport – Soulé revealed last June on Gaston’s Los Edul YouTube channel -. He also came to our sports center to meet me to tell me that he wanted me and that I had to make a decision, because the European Championship would be taking place shortly thereafter. I didn’t expect it, accepting would have been the easier choice, but I told him that my priority was Argentina and that I would wait. He was understanding. Now I’m waiting for the call from Argentina. I know there’s a lot of competition, but I keep working. It’s every child’s dream, I won’t stop hoping for it.” Is it possible that he changed his mind in so few months? In any case, why could Matias Soulé play for the Italian national team?
Can Soulé play for Italy?
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The first reason is given by the fact that Roma’s number 18 holds a double passport, thanks to his mother, Virginia Malvano, and his maternal grandparents, originally from Ancona. Secondly, Soulé fully complies with the provisions of FIFA regulations, which establish that players can change national teams provided they have not played more than three matches with the senior national team of the country that decided to call them up first, including friendly matches, and all before they turned 21. The Argentine, however, despite having been called up by Scaloni several times over the last few years (and also included among those pre-selected for the World Cup in Qatar), has never taken the field with the camiseta albiceleste. So, for him the doors of Coverciano could open without problems.