Mario Balotelli (33 years old) is definitely finishing his career in freewheeling mode. The former Italian international (36 caps, 14 goals), under contract with the Turkish club Adana Demirspor, is fully enjoying his holidays in the Boot, far from Euro 2024 which takes place in Germany until July 14.
The former FC Sion striker, who scored six goals in 19 appearances for the Valais club during the 2022-2023 season which ended in relegation to the Challenge League, recently appeared less than to his advantage in a video that went viral on social networks.
The images in question show the Italian striker on the ground, on the night of Saturday to Sunday, in the streets of Lignano Sabbiadoro, a town located in the province of Udine. Despite the help of a friend, the Palermo native, visibly drunk, struggles to get up. So much so that the two men end up falling again. However, they will end up getting up a few moments later.
With criticism starting to mount in Italy, the former player of Inter Milan, AC Milan, Manchester City, OGC Nice and Olympique de Marseille decided to set the record straight via a video posted on his own social networks.
“I saw the video where we fall to the ground with my friends, we roll, we jump, we run,” he defends himself. “I don’t see the problem of spending an evening with friends, without hurting anyone, and then being judged for what?”
Mario Balotelli then added, quite rightly, that the pitiful elimination of the Squadra azzurra against the Swiss team (2-0 defeat) in the round of 16 of Euro 2024 was certainly a more interesting and relevant subject than his escapades.
“Why didn’t you show all the photos with people, I was available to everyone,” he says. “After an Italy like this, the news that has to come out is that I’m drunk? Come on guys, let’s think about serious things.”
