Mauro Icardi has broken his silence on the stripping of his Inter captaincy and subsequent dropping for the Europa League win over Rapid Vienna. It doesn’t tell fans much, but it does say a few things.
Icardi posted on Instagram shortly after the team went final with a 1-0 European road win in Austria, using a Mark Twain quote to cryptically convey his feelings. Icardi posted a picture of himself with the caption, “‘It’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than open it and remove all doubt.’ Mark Twain 😉🤫"
Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that this is even a legitimate Mark Twain quote. While that quote is often attributed to Twain or Abraham Lincoln, there is no actual evidence that those individuals were the ones to think up that quip.
While that doesn’t shed any light on his situation, it at least gives fans a window into the Argentine striker’s feelings. Clearly, Icardi feels he has a side to the story that will clear his name, and that those criticizing his mentality amid a possible transfer out are misguided.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bt4HKVeH-iN/
In his pre-match press conference, Inter manager Luciano Spalletti said that Icardi was called up to the squad but refused to join the team. “The decision to remove the captaincy from Icardi was difficult and painful, absolutely shared by all the club members and taken for the good of Inter. He was called up for Vienna but he did not want to be there.”
With Icardi absent from the matchday squad on Thursday, fellow Argentinian striker Lautaro Martinez took his place and scored the game’s only goal, slotting home a penalty after earning the spot-kick. At just 21 years old, Martinez already has four caps for Argentina, scoring a goal in his short international time. Arriving from Argentinian side Racing Club in the summer, he has 16 appearances in Serie A this season, but only five of those have been starts, most often coming off the bench to accumulate his 600 minutes.