Nesta Return Would Prompt Questions

The news that Alessandro Nesta is considering coming out of international retirement is interesting from a moral perspective.

It is certainly positive for Italy. The team lack quality cover for first-choice central defenders Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini. Coach Marcello Lippi is keen for him to join the Azzurri's World Cup squad, and paid Nesta and his fellow Italians a visit at AC Milan's training complex recently.

Nesta called it quits with the national team shortly after the 2006 World Cup as injuries began to take their toll. After missing virtually the whole of last season, Nesta has stayed largely injury free in the 2008-09 campaign, forming a solid partnership with Milan's Brazilian international Thiago Silva.

But talk of Nesta, and another hero of the 2006 World Cup win, Francesco Totti, coming out of retirement for the 2010 edition irks me slightly.

These two, class acts that they are, have not contributed to the Azzurri cause since their respective retirements in 2006 and 2007. Those that have replaced them may have under performed at Euro 2008 - where Italy only reached the quarter-finals - and labored to qualification for South Africa, but it is they, not Nesta and Totti who have sweated for the cause. It is that group of players who took the fierce criticism before working hard to achieve qualification. It is that group that earned a shot at retaining soccer's greatest prize. Why should at least two squad members make way so Nesta and Totti can swan back in when the going is good?

I have seen several examples over the years of players announcing their retirements, taking the kudos for their years of service, only to change their minds further down the track. The great Pele did it in 1970, Henrik Larsson fancied playing at Euro 2004 so reversed his decision, while Zinedine Zidane, Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram all followed suit, albeit ahead of the 2006 World Cup qualifiers.

It is admirable that these players have such passion for major tournaments, and are no doubt valuable additions, who will only add to the fare. And it may be Lippi who is pressing for their return more than the players themselves (Nesta is reported to have big reservations about returning). But it must be galling for the other squad members, those Azzurri players who travelled to such destinations as Georgia and Montenegro.

Nesta and Totti were obviously aware that injuries were hindering them when they made their decisions, and in order to prolong their careers, retirement was the best course of action. So why has that changed? Or is the plan to pop to South Africa for the finals and then announce a second retirement?

The tifosi (fans) would no doubt welcome them back, but the morality of returning at such a time is open to debate.

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