It’s another international break and it’s another snub for controversial Liverpool striker Mario Balotelli as Italy boss Antonio Conte leaves the controversial hit-man out of his squad for the second time on the bounce.
The 24-year old came in for a bit of criticism from Reds boss Brendan Rodgers before he was duly dropped for the 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion yesterday. The fact that Balotelli brought a much spicier edge to the attack — and had one of the better chances of the second half — after replacing Rickie Lambert didn’t warrant a mention from the Northern Irishman during his post-match press conference with his insistence that the Italian needs to work harder and not only score more goals, but begin to create them as well still hanging in the air.
Southampton striker Graziano Pelle capped off his impressive start to life in the Premier League by earning himself a call from his country for their upcoming Euro-2016 qualifiers against Azerbaijan and Malta next week. The 29-year old has five goals in eight matches since joining the South Coast side — a tally that strikes a disconcerting contrast to the higher profile Balotelli’s one goal in eight appearances.
Conte, who also left the former AC Milan striker out of the squad that handily beat Norway 2-0 last month in their first qualifying match, brushed off the suggestion that he was trying to send the 24-year old message by leaving him in the cold, even going so far to suggest that there was a place for Balotelli in the Italy set-up if he earned it. Although it’s still early days for the Italian at Anfield, it looks like he’s going to have to do quite a bit more if he wants to wear the Azzuri shirt while the ex-Juventus boss is at the helm.
