PRANDELLI WARNS BALOTELLI

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Italy coach Cesare Prandelli recently sent out a warning to Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli regarding his conduct off the pitch.

Now, Mario Balotelli’s club manager Roberto Mancini has also backed the claims by Italy coach Cesare Prandelli by saying that Mario Balotelli needs to listen to the advice from Cesare Prandelli.

The Italian striker was recently pictured coming out of a strip club in Liverpool in the early hours of Friday morning. Manchester City were set to face Bolton on Saturday, and Roberto Mancini was less pleased with the striker’s attitude and behaviour off the pitch.

Cesare Prandelli went one step ahead of Roberto Mancini by not only warning the player, but also dropping him from the squad entirely. Italy are set to face the United States national team in a friendly match on Wednesday.

However, Mario Balotelli will not be part of the squad, and it remains to be seen if Cesare Prandelli will be willing to stick with him if his behaviour does not improve. Italy have qualified for the Euro 2012, and are expected to be a dominant force at this European competition after failing to make any impact in the previous edition. Mario Balotelli is expected to be part of this squad, but Cesare Prandelli warned that his behaviour should improve in order to be considered for an inclusion.

“I think it (the warning) is correct. We know that Mario is a top player – but he should improve his behaviour. For the national team it is important. When you go to play in the European Championship and you only play three or five games, you should have good behaviour,” Roberto Mancini said ahead of the match with Bolton. Mancini will have Carlos Tevez coming closer to full fitness, and he adds to the competition for Mario Balotelli.