Former Italy coach Cesare Maldini has slammed the call-up of AS Roma striker Pablo Daniel Osvaldo.

Cesare Prandelli brought in Osvaldo for the upcoming Euro 2012 qualifiers against Serbia and Northern Ireland after Giampaolo Pazzini and Mario Balotelli pulled out.

"Prandelli should certainly be asked for the reasons that pushed him to call up Osvaldo and not Matri," Maldini told Calciomercato.it.

"I think he called the former Espanyol striker in an emergency situation. I ask myself how a forward like Osvaldo, after only a few games with Roma and a brief spell in Italy with Bologna and Fiorentina, can so easily earn the Azzurri jersey.

"In any case, Prandelli's position towards foreigners had already become clear when he called up Thiago Motta."