Cantergiani: "Kicking players out of the national team is an attack on Audax"

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SANTIAGO.- "It has been a very bad start to the year. I am already very tired", asserted Valentín Cantergiani, the president of club Audax Italiano. This statement comes following the controversy caused by Marcelo Bielsa's decision no to include Carlos Villanueva and Fabián Orellana in the Asian tour of the Chilean National Selection.

Cantergiani feels that the coach's decision is an act of hostility towards his team. "There is no other explanation, because I don't understand how they can remove Villanueva after he contacted them", complained the Audax leader.

After finding out about the matter through a letter yesterday, Cantergiani received a call from Fabián Orellana: "He called me talking about how he had just found out about it, he was surprised, he never new he was supposed to contact the national selection team to confirm", he explained.

Cantergiani was clear about the letter said to have been received by the ANFP (National Professional Football Association of Chile) regarding the national team's invitation, in which Audax had indicated that they had decided not to allow their nominated players to participate. "Yes, the manager sent a letter, but it was with regards to Marcos Medel (…) we never mentioned that Villanueva or Orellana wouldn't participate", he stressed.