Packing his bags for the plane to Brazil, perhaps. That’s right: the 26-year-old Brazilian-born right midfielder/full-back has been called up by Cesare Prandelli to Italy’s initial 42-man training squad in preparation for the 2014 World Cup.
Romulo has never been capped at any level by the Azzurri or Brazil and there is a good chance he will be one of those who fall by the wayside when Prandelli cuts his initial list down to the final 23. However, that is not to say that Romulo has no chance of boarding the plane even though his call-up was a bit of a surprise. His form this season proves he has something to offer and he isn’t in the squad just to make up the numbers.
Prandelli himself said that Romulo’s five goals and eight assists this season for Verona show he deserves to be considered. One of Prandelli’s favourites at the Confederations Cup in 2013 was Emanuele Giaccherini and there are parallels between Romulo and the Sunderland man. Neither are massive stars but they can consistently do a job for the team.
In many ways Romulo’s main selling point is that he doesn’t really fill a specific role. He can do a bit of everything, slot into different positions and is a great utility man. For the Gialloblu, Andrea Mandorlini has moved him to a more attacking position in midfield and he has created 52 chances during the 2013-14 Serie A season yet he retains a sense of responsibility from his time as a full-back and gets back quickly to help the defence.
This ability to slot in anywhere is what Prandelli sees in him and his versatility is backed up by pace and general fitness that allow him to keep running and contributing to various phases of play. Romulo’s World Cup hopes still remain a long shot but with full-backs such as Federico Balzaretti, Mattia De Sceglio and Davide Santon’s places in the squad not as secure as they might be, Romulo has a reasonable chance of going to Brazil. His versatility means he could be a useful squad player and Italy have a long tradition of Oriundi and Prandelli seems to like them having played Pablo Dani Osvlado, Gabriel Paletta and Ezequiel Schelotto.
Leading scorer Luca Toni’s World Cup chances seems slim despite the 36-year-old being Serie A’s second most prolific Italian goalscorer behind Ciro Immobile. The 2006 World Cup winner does not join Romulo on the 42-man initial list and Prandelli is reluctant to talk about the chances of the Scaligeri talisman making the squad. It seems safe to say that he will not go and his impressive international career has come to an end.
Toni scored one for Verona in their 5-3 home defeat to Fiorentina although Romulo didn’t feature against his parent club. Jacapo Sala scored his first goal for the Mastini and is starting to repay some of the faith that Mandorlini put into the 22-year-old who has started to feature a lot more in midfield in recent weeks. Hopefully the former Chelsea man can use the goal as a base from which to kick on and develop further.
Given that the game contained eight goals and was therefore a completely vulgar ‘goalfest’ no analysis of the Gialloblu’s performance is needed. In all seriousness, there were positives for Verona as Juan Manuel Iturbe put in one of his best performances for a while. The dismissal of Marco Donadel means it would be harsh to criticise anybody in a game where the goals flowed so freely. It is not a defeat that should destroy the Scaligeri’s morale as Europa League qualification was always a tall order and the friendship between Viola and Gialloblu fans that was expressed during and before the game mean it is not a defeat that will sting the Bentegodi faithful.
Verona president Maurizio Setti has also recently offered his thoughts on the general state of the club and says that they will try to keep Iturbe and Romulo and that they are looking to renew Toni’s contract. Setti revealed that Toni has said he would like to like to add an additional two years to his contract and the president stressed that Verona will be proud to have him and will sign the paper without a moment’s thought.
Setti hopes that Iturbe and Romulo and sporting director Sean Sogliano will honour their contracts and continue to play and work for the Mastini but acknowledged that people of their abilities could go to bigger clubs.
The president believes that it would be best for Iturbe to stay at Verona for longer so that he can develop further before possibly moving onto a giant like Barcelona or Real Madrid. Setti was also adamant that no Serie A side would currently be able to afford the Argentine winger yet talk of a move to Roma continues in other sources.
Setti sounds fairly confident that Sogliano will remain despite interest from elsewhere as both parties are currently happy and the Gialloblu are preparing for a future with Sogliano still in charge of recruitment. The sporting director’s policy of buying young players and offering opportunities to those whose careers have stalled has proved successful and economically astute so his departure would have damaging consequences for the club.
Setti adds that Verona are talking to Fiorentina about Romulo’s future and are eager to make his loan move permanent, but that does seem a strong possibility at the moment. However, he says he would bear no grudges if the player sees himself at a bigger club at some point in the future much like Iturbe.
Coming up is the game at Atalanta on Saturday April 19 and the team from Bergamo have lost their last two after a great run of form. The Scaligeri are capable of making things more miserable for their rivals and will be eager to do so as it would be a significant scalp for the fans. The club simply have to look to finish the season in as entertaining and victorious manner possible as there’s not a huge amount else to play for. A win over La Dea would be something to savour.
