Barcelona forward Raphinha revealed that he was close to playing for the Italian national team at Euro 2020. According to him, a bureaucratic detail prevented the call-up: his Italian passport didn't arrive in time.
Born in Porto Alegre, Raphinha was eligible for the Azzurra because he had Italian citizenship. At the time, he was playing football in Europe and caught the attention of the coaching staff of the four-time world champion national team.
The plan was to include it in the Euro list, played in 2021 because of the covid-19 pandemic.
“At that time, people from the Italian national team called me. Jorginho called me all the time. They had a spectacular project for me,” he said in an interview with journalist Isabela Pagliari, on her channel on YouTube.
Even though he had accepted the idea of playing for Italy, the delayed paperwork changed his fate. "Luckily, the passport didn't arrive," said the striker, who still hoped to wear the Brazilian national team jersey.
Months later, Raphinha was called up by Tite. Since then, he has played 33 times for the national team, scoring 11 goals and providing seven assists.
At 28 years of age, the player played for Vitória de Guimarães, Sporting, Rennes and Leeds before arriving at Barcelona.
