Lippi refuses to buckle under Cassano pressure

Italy coach Marcello Lippi yesterday offered Sampdoria forward Antonio Cassano no encouragement over a possible call-up, explaining that his omission is a matter of personal choice.

Despite a sustained campaign in the press and public pressure to pick the bad-boy of Italian football, Lippi has remained steadfast in his refusal to call up the former Real Madrid and Roma forward.

Italy have no other attacking player in their squad who can do what Cassano does, but Lippi won't be budged.

"Many people say I'm stubborn and arrogant but my true default is coherence. Fans and journalists are like political parties," he told Friday's edition of L'Espresso magazine.

"Each one has his candidate for the national team. But I follow my own convictions and ideas.

"And when I don't give explanations it's because I know it will only fuel other polemics.

"And, with my ideas, if I have to, I'll go against the flow. I'm truly sorry for him because he's a good kid. But this is getting out of hand."

Lippi constantly has to answer questions about Cassano and also recently Roma's Francesco Totti, who has admitted he would like to return to the Italy fold despite having announced his international retirement after the World Cup victory in 2006.