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Italy vs Romania Preview
Italy will play Romania in a friendly that has brought an old issue to the forefront.
Cristian Ledesma's inclusion in the Italian squad to face Romania in tomorrow's friendly in Klagenfurt, Austria has, not for the first time, revived an old debate: should the oriundi represent Italy. Oriundi are foreigners who have Italian ancestry, and have historically comprised many successful Italian sides. For example, Luis Monti played in the Italy side that was victorious at the World Cup in 1934, just four years after he represented Argentina (FIFA rules now state that a player can ever only represent one country). In recent memory, Mauro Camaronesi was in the 2006 Italy squad that won the World Cup in Berlin.Italian football has had an ambivalent relationship with foreigners that often has been a function of how well the national team does at tournaments.