Italy’s lesson for De Rossi

Italy head coach Cesare Prandelli hopes Daniele De Rossi learns a valuable lesson after dropping the Roma midfielder from his 25-man squad to face France tomorrow night.

The Giallorossi vice-captain fell foul of Prandelli’s strict code of ethics when he punched Lazio captain Stefano Mauri during Sunday’s Rome derby, which Lazio went on to win 3-2.

The door is certainly not closed on the 29-year-old, though, with Prandelli keen to hand him a significant role at the World Cup in Brazil in two years’ time, should the Azzurri qualify.

Prandelli said: “I haven’t spoken to De Rossi yet but I will in the next few hours.

“I have no doubt that he will be key for us at the World Cup.

“Therefore, this punishment will serve to teach him that he cannot repeat such behaviour at a World Cup.

“He has too much of a fan’s mentality, when you’re handed responsibility then you have to behave accordingly.

“He could be Roma’s captain for a long time and I’m sure he’s very sorry for what’s happened.”

De Rossi was yesterday handed a three-match Serie A ban for violent conduct. If Prandelli used a cruel-to-be-kind policy towards De Rossi ahead of the friendly in Parma, he threw a supportive arm around out-of-favour Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli.

“He’s a bit upset about being left out by (Roberto) Mancini, who I know only did it for technical reasons,” Prandelli added. “But he shouldn’t take it to heart, Mancini just thinks others are in better form. He’ll get his chance to prove him wrong.”