Mario Balotelli suffers hamstring injury in Italy training session

Posted by

Mario Balotelli suffers hamstring injury while preparing for Italy’s Euro 2016 qualifier…

Liverpool’s hopes of a Premier League resurgence have suffered a blow with the news that striker Mario Balotelli has suffered a hamstring injury while on international duty.

As the Daily Mirror reports, the 24-year-old had been recalled to the Azzurri squad despite his lacklustre club form, but he is now set to return to Merseyside for more tests.

Balotelli picked up the problem in training earlier this week, although team doctors were confident he would recover in time for the Euro 2016 qualifier with Croatia on Sunday.

However, his condition hasn’t improved and he has now been forced to pull out of the game. The 24-year-old remains hopeful that the injury is not a significant one.

Earlier this week, Italy boss Antonio Conte said: “I’m worried that people see Balotelli differently to the others. Balotelli is a normal footballer, just like the others, who can also stay on the bench, or in the stands.

“We don’t need to differentiate Balotelli from the others. He’s just one of the 23 players He needs to catch my eye and I have to see if he can adapt to our type of football.”

More Stories Mario Balotelli