Rudi Garcia can’t promise Australian fans they will see Daniel De Silva in a Roma shirt when the Giallorossi face Manchester City.
The Serie A outfit defeated Real Madrid on penalties following a tame 0-0 draw in the first match of the International Champions Cup pre-season tournament at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Saturday night.
Australian teenager De Silva wasn’t among the substitutes for the clash with the star-studded Liga giants.
And there are no guarantees the teenager, signed from Perth Glory last year but who remained at the A-League club for the 2014-15 campaign, will be used in Roma’s second and final match on Tuesday night.
Quizzed on his immediate plans for the young forward, head coach Garcia said: “Right now we have many strikers, it’s difficult to give everyone some playing time.”
“Most of all we’ve given him (De Silva) the chance to train with the squad. I couldn’t see all my young players. That’s why (Francesco) Totti, (Seydou) Doumbia and (Mattia) Destro only played 30 minutes.”
The withdrawal of Roma captain Totti after just 30 minutes of the game would surely have proven a major disappointment to the 80,000 supporters who braved the cold to cheer on the European heavyweights.
Garcia assured the media the 38-year-old was taken off purely as a precaution during such an early stage of pre-season training.Â
