Italy CT Roberto Mancini claims VAR ‘must almost always be used’ after Sunday’s Roma–Inter controversy and that Mario Balotelli is ‘wasting’ his talent.
Roma were denied what they felt was a clear penalty on Nicolo Zaniolo during their 2-2 draw with Inter, while Balotelli’s woes continued after he raged at Nice boss Patrick Vieira.
Italy CT Roberto Mancini claims VAR ‘must almost always be used’ after Sunday’s Roma-Inter controversy and that Mario Balotelli is ‘wasting’ his talent.
Roma were denied what they felt was a clear penalty on Nicolo Zaniolo during their 2-2 draw with Inter, while Balotelli’s woes continued after he raged at Nice boss Patrick Vieira.
“I was against VAR, but I can say now that it helps the referees and it must almost always be used,” he told Radio Anch’io Sport.
“I saw penalty incident involving Zaniolo. The referee could’ve had difficulty seeing it and the technology could’ve been used calmly, also to avoid any controversy.
“I’m sorry to see Balotelli waste his talent the way he does, but I think he can keep people entertained by scoring goals.
“Hope is always the last thing that dies and something clicks in his head. Time passes quickly so he must take the opportunities he has.”
Mancini then discussed Gianluca Vialli’s recent revelation that he had cancer and Italy’s Euro 2020 qualifying group.
“I’d never talked about the cancer with Luca [Vialli], but for me he’s not just a friend. He’s a brother like everyone else from that Sampdoria team, with whom I grew up.
“I respect Luca a lot and I admire him. I love him. Our Euro 2020 qualifiers must be played first, but it’s clear that it was a good draw.
“There will be difficult matches like those in Athens and Sarajevo so we’ll need to play these games to the maximum.”