Amauri gains Italian citizenship

June 11, 2008

Newly signed Juventus striker Amauri has officially attained his Italian citizenship.

Despite several strong seasons in the Serie A, and a wealth of talent in finding the back of the net, at 27 years old Amauri has still not been capped by his native Brazil. As such, he is still allowed to declare himself for any country of which he is eligible for, and thus has opted to try to make the Italian national team by gaining his Italian citizenship.

Amauri had been seeking citizenship for some time, but due to processing delays, he was unavailable for a call up in Roberto Donadoni’s Euro 2008 squad.

“Donadoni said wonderful things about me, whereas I never heard from [Brazilian manager] Dunga. Brazil remains a dream, while Italy is a fantastic reality and I would have loved to play in Euro 2008. I think if my passport had come through a month ago, the coach would’ve called me.”

During Amauri’s time with Palermo (2006-2008) he scored 23 goals in 52 appearances. If he is indeed called up for duty in the Azzurri line up, he would be one of the very few non-native Italians to play for the national team. Of the Euro 2008 squad, only Mauro Camoranesi was not born in Italy; Camoranesi comes from Italian heritage through his grandparents, but was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

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