Mancini chose not to call up Acerbi for the national team, despite the performance of the Lazio defender. This has caused quite a stir amongst pundits in Italy, a large number of whom seem to think the Lazio man was more than deserving of a call up. Luca Pellegrini, columnist for Sky, and former captain of Sampdoria, comments on the choice of Italian coach Mancini: "He has been much better at Lazio than de Vrij has been at Inter. He seems to have been here for a long time.” 

Pellegrini was astonished that Acerbi had not been called up to the national team, and said that even in the games in which Lazio lost, the defender always gave 100% as a true professional, demonstrating his maturity.