Prandelli: Door still open for Cassano

Oct 23, 2012 12:25:00 AM

The 55-year-old coach says the Inter forward still has a part to play at international level, but competition for places means he is no longer guaranteed a place in the squad

Italy boss Cesare Prandelli has opened the door for Antonio Cassano to make a return to the national side, after leaving him out of his last two squads.

The Inter forward played a starring role in the Azzurri's Euro 2012 campaign but has since been snubbed by his nation for their opening World Cup 2014 qualifiers.

“We are lucky, because in this moment we have a lot of strikers," Prandelli explained after being awarded the Tor Vergata Ethics of Sport Award.

"However, the door is still open for Cassano because he is a good player. The same for [Antonio] Di Natale."

The 55-year-old coach then gave his thoughts on the rumoured dispute between Roma coach Zdenek Zeman and Italian duo Daniele De Rossi and Pablo Osvaldo.

“I don’t like it when the players argue with their coaches. I believe they only should think about playing football," he added.

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