Italian has shown humility and commitment but the country is suffering as players in their prime choose to play abroad
D aniele De Rossi came to Buenos Aires to follow a dream. He was 36 and had a fine career behind him. He could have retired. He could have opted for a sinecure in the Middle East or China. He could have gone into coaching or television punditry. But instead, having spent his entire senior career at Roma, he signed for Boca Juniors.
Things haven’t gone according to plan, however. A persistent hamstring injury has restricted him to 334 minutes of football since arriving in July. De Rossi was on the bench for Tuesday’s Copa Libertadores semi-final against River Plate but he did not come on as Boca won 1-0 and went out 2-1 on aggregate. His presence seemed less about him potentially playing than about trying to use his experience to calm others and perhaps even letting him feel a superclásico close up.
Related: River Plate make Copa Libertadores final despite defeat to Boca Juniors
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