Mario Balotelli called up to Italy squad by boss Roberto Mancini
Mario balotelli was called back to Italy Roberto Mancini’s squad for the first time since 2018 for a special training camp.
Predict the World Cup qualifying playoffs in March with North Macedonia and then potentially Portugal or TurkeyMancini assigned a team of 35 people to a special training camp at their Coverciano base.
– What did Balotelli do during his international exile?
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Striker Adana Demirspor Balotelli, who has 36 caps for Italy, has not played for his national team since September 2018. Mancini, in his first match as coach in May 2018 called Balotelli to the first team after more than 4 years.
The 31-year-old has played for Italy in two major tournaments. At Euro 2012, his two goals resulted in a 2-1 win over Germany in the semi-finals, while he was part of the Italy team that was eliminated in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.
#Nazionale 🇮🇹
Il Ct #Mancini convoca 35 #Azzurri per lo stage in programmma dal 26 al 28 gennaio a #Coverciano
I dettagli 👉🏻 https://t.co/vD9kBSC5vT#VivoAzzurro pic.twitter.com/T3DbIK0PUi
– Nazionale Italiana ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (@Azzurri) January 24, 2022
Along with Balotelli, Mancini was called up Lazio defender Luiz Felipe and Cagliari striker Joao Pedro, who is a naturalized Brazilian.
The reigning European champions Italy will not have a star player Federico Chiesa for their important World Cup qualifiers after he excluded for the rest of the campaign after knee surgery.