Mario Balotelli and Cesare Prandelli aren’t exactly best buds

Mario Balotelli had an uneven World Cup. He scored the winning goal against England, but that was the only time he found the net.

On one hand, he delivered Italy its only win. On the other hand he had only one goal. He was Italy’s most dangerous player, but he also rarely saw the ball. And yet when it was all over, Cesare Prandelli blamed Balotelli for the team’s failings.

Let’s see how Balotelli took it.

“Even Cesare Prandelli has said bad stuff about me,” the striker talk Talk Sport. “Should he be going and talking to the newspapers about me straight after a game? I did not expect that and I did not reply, because there is no point.”

That’s fair. For a manager to go to the media about how bad a player was is rare, and he did put a lot of blame on a player who was starved of service.

Oh wait, Mario’s not done?

“I think real men, if they have something to say, then they come to you and say it to your face. I am a face-to-face person, a straight person.”

Mic drop. He out.

The good news is that Prandelli is no longer the Italy manager and, despite new manager Antonio Conte leaving Balotelli out of the team, the striker said he understood. Other forwards are scoring and he is not, so he and Conte are on good terms, or good-ish terms.