(Reuters) – Italy coach Milena Bertolini said her decision to leave captain Sara Gama out of her Women’s World Cup squad was not taken lightly and that the 34-year-old centre back had been omitted for “technical-tactical and physical” reasons.
Gama, who has 126 caps and led Italy to the quarter-finals at the 2019 tournament in France, was a surprise omission from Bertolini’s provisional 32-player squad for the July 20 to Aug. 20 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
“Do not think that I made this choice lightheartedly,” Bertolini told reporters at Italy’s training camp on Monday. “The reason is exclusively technical-tactical and physical.
“I have reflected for a long time because I wanted to be certain of this decision.”
Italy, who were winless at last year’s European Championship, qualified for the World Cup in September by topping their group.
“Since last September we have started to propose new solutions and to include the youngest players,” Bertolini said.
“We do not want to be bound to a single game plan. I prefer to talk about tactical dynamism because the team, depending on the opponent we will face, will have to know how to adapt, even during the course of a match.”
Gama said she was notified three days before Friday’s squad announcement and was disappointed to be left out of the group, which will be trimmed to 23 before the tournament.
“I accept the choice, despite the bitterness of these difficult hours due to the methods and times with which this decision was communicated to me,” the Juventus defender wrote on Instagram.
“I gave everything in the 18 years spent in the national team since I wore the blue shirt for the first time in 2005. There have also been moments of difficulty, but I have always gone through them with the pride of representing my country.”
Italy begin their World Cup campaign against Argentina on July 24 before taking on Sweden and South Africa.
(Reporting by Hritika Sharma in Hyderabad; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
