Sports News of Monday, 14 June 2021
Source: footballghana.com
2021-06-14
Ghanaian duo Kevin-Prince Boateng and Mario Balotelli Barwuah
Black Stars forward Kevin-Prince Boateng has revealed why his teammate Mario Balotelli Barwuah failed to make the Italy squad for the 2020 European Championship which started over the weekend.
Balotelli, who is of Ghanaian descent last featured for the Azurris of Italy back in September 2018.
He has scored 14 goals in 36 appearances for the national team and played an instrumental role for Italy in the 2012 Euro Championship where they lost 4-0 in the final to Spain.
Last season, he featured for Serie B side AC Monza but failed to find his way back into the Italian team for Euros.
Kevin-Prince Boateng who shared the pitch with Balotelli at Monza has revealed why he failed to make the squad.
“Mario was out eight or nine months before he came to Monza and that is often underestimated. As a player, you also think I’ll train a little and then you’ll be there. That takes at least half the time you were out. He would have needed more time, pushed himself so hard because he really wanted to help that he had torn muscle fibers twice. ” The ARD expert on SPORT BILD
He continued that, “He hasn’t forgotten how to score goals, but he can get up to this fitness level. He didn’t have the time, pushed himself too hard. This is also a sign that he has grown from the head and said I wanted to give everything.”
You can also watch this week’s episode of the Friday debate on GhanaWeb TV with Joel Eshun in the post below: