Balotelli and Rossi help Italy draw friendly in Geneva

[Danny]

Balotelli could have been in the news for other reasons off late, but this time; he has done something that he is known always for. He along with Daniele De Rossi helped their national team draw a friendly again Brazil; the match which looked to be a one sided affair after Brazil took a comprehensive 2 goals lead in the first half. It is completely wrong to say that Brazil performed magnificently in the first half to take the initial lead, though it was a bad show by Italy to enable them take lead. Within nine minutes of the second half, Daniele De Rossi reduced the lead by one goal and within three minutes, it was Balotelli turn to take the initiative and he scored a brilliant goal to equalize the match; he has scored eight goals in total in 2013, hence he looks to be in excellent form to answer his critics. Fred and Oscar scored from Brazil in the first half which went juiceless in the second half. Anyways, the match began with a tribute to Italian sprinter Pietro Mennea by offering a one minute silence; Mennea died on Thursday.

Santos young superstar Neymar openly admitted that he is a big fan of Balotelli; perhaps the way he performed in the last match, Neymar became even more attached to him. Neymar himself was the part of Brazil squad during the match and he closely watched the playing style of Italian striker who was famous for wrong reasons off late. However, Neymar said he has always been his fan and inspired by his on and off the field behaviors – may be he is not serious about that! Neymar said after the match, "He's a player that I'm a big fan of. A great player and great person. I think the Selecao were good. We are getting better with each passing day and you can see our team improving. It's a great team, with players of real quality."

Brazil goalie Julio Cesar said about the match that it was more his sides failing rather Italian strength. He was highly unsatisfied with the way his national team could not stand by their initial lead. He said, "The game was in our hands, but we stalled. They scored two goals from our errors more than by their merit. Of course they had merit, but they scored from things we got wrong."

Anyways, for the time being, Balotelli is in good form and everyone seems to be appreciating his performance despite the fact that he also missed one or two chances during first half.