Mario Balotelli. A name we have all heard before, but one that seems to stick around even after a conversation.
In Antonio Conte’s, his name or conversations including him won’t be going away anytime soon.
The question on everyone’s mind as of late, will Balotelli miss the European Championship this upcoming summer?
Having had a great tournament in 2012, Italy and Balotelli made an early exit from the 2014 World Cup as they were knocked out of the group stage for the second consecutive time. This would be the last time Balo would put on the Azzurri blue.
From then to now, Balotelli has been close to the spotlight, but nothing compared to his early career antics. Today, Balotelli is in the news and in the headlines for different reasons. Since Balo has learned to ‘behave’ himself, people are focusing more on his ability and performance.
Why else would they be so worried whether he made the final squad this summer or not?
Without Balo, Italy qualified at the top of Group H with 16 goals, but ran into some trouble in the past month. The first game against Spain on March 24th was what most people would have expected with the exception of Italy’s lack of goal scoring opportunities. Italy were not creative and un-motivated in the final third and were lucky to net a goal from the boot of Insigne. A total mental collapse against Germany a couple days later would prove to Conte (if he didn’t see it already) that his 3-5-3 needed some work and that Italy need a proven goalscorer leading their attack.
The fact of the matter is, Italy needs Balotelli. And I understand that a lot of people will be upset and angry with this statement, but it’s the truth. Look at the numbers through Euro 2016 Qualifying:
Pelle – 7 appearances, 3 goals
Eder – 5 appearances, 2 goals
Zaza – 5 appearances, 1 goal
El Shaarawy (when he was used as a striker) – 4 appearances, 1 goal
Event in Friendlies from the end of the 2014 World Cup to now, Immobile, Pelle, Okaka, and El Shaarawy have each scored one goal a piece in three or more appearances.
Compared to Balotelli’s 33 appearances and 13 goals for his country, there in no comparison. Even Giovinco, with 23 total appearances, was only able to muster 1 goal. It is clear who Italy’s best option is here, but you have to factor in recent performance and quality of play right up to the tournament.
With Milan having 3 remaining league games left on their schedule and 1 meeting in the Copa Italia final with Scudetto winning Juventus, Balotelli has the potential to make his case known. He has started off on the right foot with new manager Cristian Brocchi, but was recently replaced by Jeremy Menez against Hellas Verona. We are all aware of the poor season Mario and Milan have had, but my concern is, who will be the goalscorer in this years major tournament if Balo doesn’t make the cut?
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