Mario Balotelli’s performance in Italy’s 1-1 Nations League draw with Poland came in for a lot of criticism from the Italian media.
The Nice striker looked slightly overweight and very unfit, as Coach Roberto Mancini confirmed he had a muscular problem in the morning of the match.
He did undergo a separate warm-up routine before kick-off at the Stadio Dall’Ara in Bologna, almost a fitness test, but was chosen to start anyway.
Mario Balotelli’s performance in Italy’s 1-1 Nations League draw with Poland came in for a lot of criticism from the Italian media.
The Nice striker looked slightly overweight and very unfit, as Coach Roberto Mancini confirmed he had a muscular problem in the morning of the match.
He did undergo a separate warm-up routine before kick-off at the Stadio Dall’Ara in Bologna, almost a fitness test, but was chosen to start anyway.
The decision to play a striker who missed practically all of pre-season at Nice due to a contract dispute and made only one 76-minute appearance in Ligue 1 bemused many.
The media verdicts were damning, as Balo was voted worst player on the pitch by all the major newspapers.
“Slow progress. A desperate wandering between Glik and Bednarek who are in competition to see who can beat him to the ball first, after all there is no reaction from him.
“No desire to play until he is substituted,” wrote La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Apathetic, sluggish, harassed by the Polish defenders, he always plays with his back to goal. When he comes off, his gaze is at the floor, disappointment weighing him down,” noted the Corriere dello Sport.
“You can see, oh how you can see, that he is still a long way off peak fitness. This penalises him a great deal,” added Tuttosport.
“Aside from the fact, and that is not his fault, that he doesn’t get a single playable assist. The first shot, 36 minutes in, ends up in the Polish crowd.
“He limps off with a thigh problem amid jeers and applause: condemned to divide.”
On Rai Sport, 1982 World Cup winner Marco Tardelli also struggled to defend SuperMario.
“I am a real admirer of Balotelli, but he genuinely made me angry tonight. If he had a fitness problem, he should’ve stepped aside.
“When Andrea Belotti came on, the team immediately had a different tempo and you saw the results on the field. Belotti has this great spirit of sacrifice, something that Balotelli unfortunately does not possess.”