“I was hurt by the comments and the words that circulated about the alleged bonuses we supposedly asked for. As captain, I never asked the Italian national team for a single euro. What the federation does, as in all competitions, is give a gift to the players who qualify for a tournament. That’s it. No one asked the federation for anything: our reward was to go to the World Cup, and we didn’t make it. What was said hurt me, and I repeat, no one ever asked for bonuses,” said the national team captain in an interview with Sky Sports Italia.
