Argentinian national team striker Mauro Icardi revealed that he was tempted by both the Italian and Spanish national teams to join their ranks, but he never considered the possibility of exchanging his homeland for the opportunity to defend the honor of these countries.
M. Icardi left Argentina at the age of just nine and moved to Spain, where his football career began. However, after a few years, he once again changed his place of residence and moved to the Italian "Sampdoria" club, and now the player admitted that he was tempted by both countries to join their national team.
"I had the opportunity to represent the Italian national team. They called and invited me to the U-21 team and I had to fight against 'Sampdoria', because I did not want to go there - I wanted to play only for the Argentine national team.
Ispani also tried to lure me: they called my father, but I never thought about any other national team than Argentina. No matter how difficult it would be to get into it, I finally managed to realize this dream," - the "Inter" star told Rivista Undici magazine.
Last weekend, the striker, who scored a "poker" for his first team in Italy - "Sampdoria", also did not hide the fact that one of the main reasons why he wanted to play for Argentina was Lionel Messi, with whom he would like to play for his current team.
"Playing for the 'Inter' team with the best player in the world would be something unbelievable. Without a doubt, I'm talking about L. Messi. However, he is committed to the 'Barcelona' team and I don't think this dream of mine is very real," - confessed M. Icardi.
The 25-year-old striker is demonstrating admirable form this season and has already scored 22 goals in 24 matches in the "Serie A" championship.
