Wolfsburg midfielder Daniel Caligiuri dreams of playing at Euro 2016, but it seems it does not matter who would play for. The German has shared that he would be glad to impress either Germany, or Italy, but he has not decided whose eventual offer he would accept.
The 27-year-old player has recently said that he “would be glad to play for both countries” and would probably choose the one that offers him a place in their squad first.
Italy could be considered to have outrun Germany in Caligiuri’s personal preferences, as in May this year the manager of Italia national football team called the midfielder up right before the team’s Euro 2016 qualifying fixture against Croatia along with another German – the winger Nicola Sansone.
However, after spending several days of training sessions, Caligiuri has not appeared in the Italian outfit. Instead, he received a text message saying that his services were no longer required. Since then, the midfielder has been waiting for either of the two national coaches to call him.
As a matter of fact, considering the current form of Caligiuri, the player deserves a chance to play for both teams. The head coach of Germany national football team Joachim Low has primarily preferred Andre Schurrle, no matter that the latter remained onto the bench at Wolfsburg more often than usual exactly at Caligiuri’s expenses after his €32-million transfer from Chelsea this January.
The cost of Caligiuri at the time when he joined Wolfsburg was less than €3 million in the summer of 2013. Caligiuri is also more experienced than Schurrle, considering that he is almost three years older.
The player started his career at Freiburg’s Under-19 team, which he helped win the cup in 2006. In 2007, Christian Streich was appointed as assistant coach of Freiburg first-team. He helped the midfielder make it to the Bundesliga two years later, at a time when Caligiuri was already 21.
Caligiuri has been facing some difficulties to prove his abilities under the coaches Robin Dutt and Marcus Sorg, but everything changed in 2012, after Streich’s appointment as head coach of Freiburg in an attempt to save the club from relegation. He managed to score six goals in a period of three months, and his team also stayed up.
Over the 2012/2013 campaign Freiburg flourished, as the midfielder became one of the brightest stars of the team. He scored five goals, provided five assists and demonstrated excellent qualities on the wing. The club even got closer to a qualification for the Champions League. At the time Caligiuri got suspended for the last-day fixture of the club against Schalke 04, Freiburg suffered a 2-1 defeat.
At the summer of 2012, the player got an offer from Wolfsburg and joined the team, which currently occupies the 5th position in the national Bundesliga. However, Caligiuri had a poor start due to an injury he suffered in the pre-season. The player entered the field only in nine Bundesliga games in 2013/2014 season. Still, the midfielder got his breakthrough over the last term, when Wolfsburg faced Freiburg. Caligiuri finished with a total of ten goals in all competitions.
For now, 2015 has turned out to be the best year in the midfielder’s career. He had a brilliant play at Wolfsburg, and is now dreaming of appearing in Euro 2016.
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