Down to Ten Men

England goalkeeper Joe Hart has claimed that the team should not take the threat from former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli lightly in the opening match of the World Cup 2014. England will be taking on Italy in this group match. The heavyweight clash promises to be an entertaining encounter, but both teams have had difficult warm-up friendlies. They have failed to win most of their matches and England’s defence has especially come under criticism.

Italy’s national team manager Cesare Prandelli has claimed that his star striker Mario Balotelli should start becoming a team player in order to help the team reach the finals or even win the World Cup. Balotelli is regarded as one of the most talented strikers in world football. However, he has had various temperamental and psychological issues over the last few years that have prevented him from taking his game to the next level. Balotelli, though, was a crucial player for Italy as they reached the finals of the Euro 2012.

Atletico Madrid reached the Champions League final for the first time in their history after managing a 3-1 aggregate win over Chelsea in the semifinals of the competition. After a 0-0 draw from the first leg at the Vicente Calderon, the Spaniards managed a wonderful 3-1 victory at Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool’s Luis Suarez says that he is wary of the threat posed by AC Milan striker Mario Balotelli and the upcoming World Cup 2014. Balotelli will be representing the Italian national team, while Suarez will be spearheading the attack of Uruguayan national team.

Both are in the same group along with the likes of Costa Rica and England. However, it is Uruguay and Italy who are the favourites to progress to the knockout stages. Italy have done exceedingly well in recent major tournaments after reaching the finals of the recent European championships.

With the World Cup right around the corner, there are always a few players adopting wacky hairstyles or practicing crazy goal celebrations to get themselves noticed by a global audience.

Then there are those players who just don't need to try - their looks give them celebrity status courtesy of their famous lookalikes.

We all know about England striker Wayne Rooney's likeness for Shrek, but how about these we found on Betfair.com...?

Franck Ribéry

Former Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli has dismissed suggestions that he is a bad boy by joking that he wants to be more bad. The striker has often stated that he misses English football fans.

Even during his time at City, Balotelli stated on several occasions that he did not like several aspects of English football like the weather, driving style, and food. However, if there was one aspect of English football that he misses a lot, then it has to be the fans. Balotelli sealed a £ 18 million move to AC Milan a few transfer windows ago.