It hasn’t been the best week for Aston Villa players out on international duty this week, as after the criticism received by Youri Tielemans, it’s now the turn of Nicolo Zaniolo to annoy people in his home country.
The Italy player came on over the weekend in his country’s 1-1 draw against North Macedonia, which many expected them to win.
They were on course to do so until the Aston Villa player fouled an opponent on the edge of the box, which led to the subsequent free-kick being converted by Enis Bardhi, much to the frustration of journalist Giuseppe Cruciani, who spoke about it to Juventibus, relayed by Il Pallone Gonfiato.
He said: “Zaniolo had even entered well, then he made a mess. He made a ridiculous foul at the edge of the area and three glaring mistakes. I don’t understand why we don’t consider players of advanced age. In my opinion, a Candreva is worth more than Zaniolo, even at 36.”
It remains to be seen whether this mistake by the Aston Villa player will be costly in the long run, but Italy currently sit third in Group C of the qualifiers, with four points from three games, and one game in hand over Ukraine, who are three points ahead of them.
