Mario Balotelli found the back of the net for Italy on Monday, in the Azzurri’s 2-1 win against Saudi Arabia in St. Gallen.
Balotelli’s goal came in his first appearance for the national side since the 2014 World Cup, with new Italy boss Roberto Mancini, who managed the striker at both Inter Milan and Manchester City, bringing the Nice man back into the international fold.
The goal came on 21 minutes, with Balotelli latching onto the ball outside the box before jinking past a defender and unleashing a superb low drive which flew into the corner of the net.
A very decent strike indeed.
Torino forward Andrea Belotti would net Italy’s second goal of the game on 68 minutes, after a corner.
Soon after, Yahya Al Shehri got a consolation goal for Saudi Arabia after poor play from Chelsea’s Davide Zappacosta.
While Italy miss out on this summer’s World Cup, the Saudis will kick off their campaign in Russia in the opening game against the hosts on June 14th.
As for Balotelli, at 27, he still has a lot of football left in him, and Mancini could well be the man to revitalise the striker’s international career.