Leonardo Bonucci against Gianluigi Donnarumma’s haters: ‘Brainless’

Leonardo Bonucci against Gianluigi Donnarumma’s haters: ‘Brainless’

Italy will face England at the San Siro on Friday. In the latest national team matches played in Milan, Gianluigi Donnarumma has been the victim of booing and unkind words from Milan fans evidently unhappy with the class of ’99’s choice to leave the Rossoneri on a zero-parameter and settle at Paris Saint Germain.

In a press conference Leonardo Bonucci spoke harshly on the issue: “Whoever booes a player of the Italian national team for me is a mindless person, at that moment the player represents the whole nation and also whoever is booing… I don’t see why Donnarumma should be booed who just made a choice, he was not the first to be booed and he won’t be the last. We have to grow from a cultural point of view, tomorrow we expect a charged San Siro.”

The seasoned central in recent days has come into the crosshairs of Juventus fans, who have said they do not recognize him as a leader: “I feel myself, always. For better or worse, everything I have done in my career I have done by being myself. Whether it’s Juve or the national team, I behave as I think is right. The important thing is that I can look in the mirror in the morning and be aware that I have given my all for myself and for the team. Ingratitude? If it had been the latter times I would have been surprised…. But it’s my whole career like this, nothing scares me. I have lived through worse times in life, nothing scares me anymore.”

“When I come to the national team I regenerate but not only this time, it’s been like this for 12 years now,” Bonucci continued. “Here you breathe fresh air, you are together with a group for 10 days in a row. I don’t think about the 2026 World Cup, it’s not my goal, my goal is to be well and help the national team as long as I can and the coach wants me to.”

Roberto Mancini’s band needs to regain enthusiasm after failing to qualify for the World Cup: “If we think about the enthusiasm of the European Championship, clearly that is different…. I believe that in this national team the enthusiasm is there, then it is amplified when you start winning. We need victories and awareness to make it clear that the misstep due to not qualifying for the World Cup is a thing of the past. Winning these two competitions would allow us to almost certainly participate in the final four, we have to think about that.”