33 year old West Ham United defender Angelo Ogbonna has reacted angrily to the decision of coach Roberto Mancini to leave him out of the squad of Italy for the European Championship.
Ogbonna who has Nigerian roots turned down the chance of playing for Nigeria in 2011 when he was approached by the Nigeria Football Federation after an impressive season for Torino.
He later moved to Juventus but didn’t quite establish himself before moving to West Ham where he has remained a stalwart in the heart of their defence.
In the just concluded season he was highly regarded as one of the best players of the Hammers who were by some way the surprise package of the season as they earned a UEFA Europa League place for the first time in their history.
His form made him feel that he should at least get into the Italian team for the Euros but he was snubbed by Mancini and he has now voiced out his disappointment at being unable to add to his 13 senior caps for Italy. He could have earned more if he had decided to stick with Nigeria.
Ogbonna’s frustration over his omission was magnified after seeing Chelsea duo Jorginho and Emerson Palmieri added to the Italy squad on Sunday.
“I am very amazed and also bitter, perhaps he did not take into consideration the West Ham championship,” the Hammers centre-half told Corriere della Sera.
“We fought until the end for the Champions League qualification with Jorginho and Palmieri’s Chelsea, who finished higher, but we showed that we can beat any team.”
Ogbonna added: “In sport, meritocracy must prevail, based on the championship in which one plays, on the statistics, on the value of the player.
“And this time, in my opinion, it did not prevail.”