Will Amauri Pretend to be Italian?

By: Martha | November 8th, 2006

Amauri In the comments on another post, we’ve been discussing the possibility of Palermo’s outrageously in-form striker Amauri pulling on the Azzurri shirt. As Paul rightly pointed out in those comments, were Amauri Italian born and bred, he’d already be in the side. The issue, of course, is that Amauri is actually Brazilian, and people — including players — in countries with strong footballing traditions (as opposed to, say, the US, where foreign-bred players tend to be gleefully handed passports and a place in the team before their planes even land, or Japan, where Alex seems to have been eagerly embraced) don’t always react well to foreigners on their national teams. One doesn’t have to look back very far to remember Luis Figo’s discontent over the arrival of the Brazilian Deco in the Portuguese midfield, or the discomfort in Italy at the sight of Mauro Camoranesi turning out for the Azzurri rather than his Argentine homeland.

Until recently, the issue was moot — despite the impending arrival of his Italian passport, Amauri was refusing to give up on his life-long dream of playing for Brazil. Now, though, there’s been a change: Having been left out of the Brazil side for their upcoming friendly against Switzerland, the player has for the first time opened the door to playing for Italy. According to press reports, he’s mad as hell, and he’s not going to take it any more. Or, more precisely, “If the Brazilian team does not value me like it did not when I was younger, then I will seriously consider the idea of playing for the Italian national team.” Niiiiiiiiice.

Given that Donadoni has already said he’s open to bring Amauri into the squad, it almost seems like a forgone conclusion that he’ll soon join the Azzurri, perhaps for the Turkey friendly. Me, I’m ok with it — Amauri has been in Italy for years, and has built his career there. Plus, you know, he’s a good player, and I’m all about anything that helps Italy win. (Well, within reason. I would not be happy if they started recruiting randomly Germans whose grandmothers might once have spoken to an Italian man during the war.) What do you guys think: Disastrous selling out of the Azzurri shirt? Sign of enlightened openness in the world of football? Tragic addition of yet another player with terrible hair to the national team?