Milan: Mario Balotelli has some work to do to earn the respect of Italy coach Antonio Conte.
Conte tells the Gazzetta dello Sport that he’s not sure Balotelli’s decision to move back to England is positive or not, “but I do know that whoever joins the national team must then deserve to stay there.”
Balotelli, Italy’s most talented and most temperamental forward, transferred from AC Milan to Liverpool on Monday.
Conte says “the man is more important than the footballer... Talent is secondary. First you’ve got to sacrifice yourself for the squad.”
Balotelli was criticised severely after Italy was eliminated after the first round of the World Cup under Cesare Prandelli, who then resigned.
Conte, who led Juventus to the last three Serie A titles, is a strict disciplinarian.
Meanwhile, Cameroon’s all-time leading goal-scorer Samuel Eto’o has announced that he was ending his 17-year international football career.
Eto’o, 33, will leave international football as Africa’s most decorated player, having played in four World Cups and having two African Cup of Nations titles and an Olympic gold medal and a record four African Player of the Year awards to his name, reports Xinhua.
Eto’o just moved to English Premier League club Everton on a two-year deal on Tuesday after he was released by Chelsea.
