Italy team manager Lele Oriali compared Coach Antonio Conte to Jose Mourinho, but “the doors are not closed” for Mario Balotelli.
Italy team manager Lele Oriali compared Coach Antonio Conte to Jose Mourinho, but “the doors are not closed” for Mario Balotelli.
Ex-Juventus boss Conte has won both his games in charge of the Nazionale and goes into Euro 2016 qualifiers against Azerbaijan on Friday and Malta on Monday.
“What unites Mourinho and Conte is their ability to ensure everyone feels involved in the project, all protagonists working towards the same objective,” former Inter director Oriali told reporters.
“We have two important games coming up and must remain concentrated to avoid embarrassing outcomes.”
Balotelli has been left out of the squad again by Conte, though Oriali insists it is not a permanent decision.
“All I can say is that we are following just about everyone who could be a part of our Nazionale. We divide up the work so members of staff can view all the players we consider to be up to the standard of this project.
“As Conte said, the doors to the Nazionale are open to everyone. It’s a revolving door policy, so everyone can come in or go out.”
The current strike pairing is Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile, who are expected to start against Azerbaijan.
“They remind me of Pulici and Graziani, albeit with different characteristics. They are young and can improve, while they are behaving like professionals and we hope they continue like that.
“We are very satisfied with what we’ve achieved so far, which has been above and beyond expectations.”