Your trusted source

Pablo Daniel Osvaldo concedes he and fellow Azzurri goalscorer Daniele De Rossi “must earn our places” for Italy and Roma, according to Football Italia.

They were both dropped for last week’s 2-0 win over Atalanta by Zdenek Zeman, but were on target in Italy’s 3-1 World Cup qualifier against Armenia Friday evening.

“This goal is important because it allowed us to relax into the lead. On a personal level I am happy when I score, but this is a goal like all the others,” said Osvaldo.

“I speak for me, but I think also for Daniele. We always try to give our all for Italy and Roma, so at the end of the day hard work pays off.

“I wanted to put it in at the back post and fortunately it went well. Daniele gave me a great assist and that made it all easier.

“We were a little unlucky in attack today and Armenia were very defensive, but at the end we won and that is the only thing that counts.”

Osvaldo was meant to partner Mario Balotelli, but Sebastian Giovinco started instead due to the Manchester City striker suffering from a cold.

“It’s all the same to me,” said Osvaldo. “Both Mario and Seba are great players. It’s a shame for Mario, but we hope to have him ready for the next game.”