Mario Balotelli was a ‘pleasant surprise’ for Roberto Mancini’s assistant Attilio Lombardo on the Italy recall. ‘He’s lost a lot of weight.’
There were eyebrows raised when Balotelli was named in the Italy squad for Mancini’s get-together in preparation for the 2022 World Cup play-offs.
Balo has rediscovered his scoring touch in Turkey with Adana Demirspor, finding the net nine times with five assists in 21 competitive appearances for the club this season.
Now that the three-day training camp at Coverciano is over, assistant manager Lombardo explained to RAI Sport how much SuperMario had impressed.
“He has lost a lot of weight, I don’t know if it was because he contracted COVID-19 or what,” said Lombardo.
“I hadn’t seen him in a long time, as it’s more difficult to track his progress now he plays abroad. I honestly did not expect to see him in such good shape, it was a pleasant surprise.”
Balotelli has 14 goals in 36 senior Italy caps, but has not played for the Azzurri since a 1-1 Nations League draw with Poland in September 2018.
His last goal was in a 2-1 friendly victory over Saudi Arabia in May 2018.
Curiously, that was also the debut of Balotelli’s former Inter and Manchester City boss Mancini on the Azzurri bench.