Roma’s Stephan El Shaarawy admits injuries have stalled his career – “I’ve been out for a year and a half in total”.
The winger broke through at Milan in the 2012-13 season, but hadn’t managed 20 League games with one club in a single season since until the current campaign.
“I’ve had a lot of ups-and-downs in the course of my career,” El Shaarawy said in a Press conference at Coverciano, having been called-up to the Italy training camp.
“I think the injuries are to blame, I’ve been out for a year and a half in total. There have been a few incidents which have affected my career.
“I’ve never given up and I’ve given my all.
“To get to the national team you need to play consistently, a player has to have faith to play for the national team and I think I’ve done my best, both for my club and the national team.
“I was part of the squad for the Confederations Cup and the European Championships, although I didn’t play much.
“I haven’t played consistently this season, aside from the last few games. Now I have until the end of the season to convince [Giampiero] Ventura to call me up.
“I’m looking toward the games in June, in September and then the World Cup. It all comes down to me.
“This call-up gives me a lot of confidence having been out for some time. In the course of a career or a season there are ups-and-downs, but the objective is to return permanently.”
El Shaarawy was also asked about Juventus’ 3-0 Champions League win over Barcelona, with Roma having been knocked out by Porto in the qualifiers.
“The was anger after being eliminated by Porto, I was disappointed to be watching from home. I congratulate Juve because they’re a very strong team.
“Our direct clash with them will be a very difficult match, but we need to close the gap to as few points as possible. We’ll do our best to close the gap.”
