Italy international Guglielmo Vicario has been named as a starter for Tottenham’s Premier League clash against Nottingham Forest on Sunday afternoon, despite recently turning down a call-up to the national team due to an operation he is due to have next week.
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Why is Vicario starting for Tottenham but is not part of the Italy squad?
Vicario was not named in Gennaro Gattuso’s 28-player Italy squad for the World Cup play-offs coming up this international break. The Azzurri will host Northern Ireland on Thursday evening in the semi-final and the winner of that match will go on to face either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina away from home for a spot at the final tournament.
Tottenham confirmed that the reason behind Vicario’s absence from the Italy squad was due to the fact that he is due to have surgery on a sports hernia.
This procedure is expected to take place next week, and is likely to rule the stopper out for around a month.
Tottenham confirmed that Vicario decided to have the procedure done now in order to minimise the impact on his availability at club level.
The decision to skip the play-offs was understandable given that Manchester City’s Gianluigi Donnarumma is expected to start in both matches, assuming that Italy get past Northern Ireland in the semi-final.
However, it does come as a slight surprise to see vicario still in the starting line-up for Tottenham’s Premier League relegation clash against Nottingham Forest on Sunday, given that he is due to have an operation in the coming days.