Mancini Blames ‘A Lack Of Glasses’ For Chiellini’s Omission
Italy manager Roberto Mancini has blamed ‘a lack of glasses’ for veteran Giorgio Chiellini’s omission from the starting eleven in Friday’s Nations League game against Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Italy opened their Nations League campaign with a 1-1 draw after Stefano Sensi cancelled out Edin Dzeko’s opener for the visitors.
The game marked the first time the Italians had failed to win in eleven games, leaving them third in a group that also includes Netherlands and Poland.
Juventus centre-back Chiellini was replaced in the starting eleven by Lazio’s Francesco Acerbi and remained on the substitutes bench for the entirety of the game.
Mancini admitted afterwards that Chiellini was supposed to start the game but failed to spot the defender’s name was missing from the teamsheet presented by his assistants as he was not wearing glasses.
"It was my fault," Mancini said in a report by Football Italia.
"They showed me the line-up, I didn't have my glasses on and just said it was fine. I didn't notice Acerbi was there rather than Chiellini."
“Anyway, we had planned originally for Acerbi to play one game and Chiellini another. I had asked Giorgio if he wanted to play today or on Monday with Holland, he said today, but we’ll have to swap it now.
“It’s not like we chose a goalkeeper rather than a defender, it’s not a massive difference, but yes, it was an error.”
