Photo by ISIphotos.com
By TRAVIS CLARK
The start of Mario Balotelli's Manchester City career has sputtered to a halt, as the club announced that the Italian striker would have to undergo surgery and miss another month of action.
Purchased from Inter Milan for £22.5 million in August, Balotelli scored on his debut in a Europa League qualifier on August 19 against Timisoara. He also managed to pick up a knee injury before that game came to an end, and it will end up costing him another month of playing time — if not more.
The 20-year-old has yet to make his league debut for Manchester City after becoming one of six new players to join the club during the transfer season.
Here are a few other stories for Wednesday evening:
TEVEZ PONDERS INTERNATIONAL FUTURE
Argentina and Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez indicated that he might retire from the international team before the 2014 World Cup. Speaking after scoring a goal in Tuesday's 4-1 win over Spain, the 26-year-old mentioned that he might not make it the next four years — though gave no hint that he would retire in the near future. Argentina will host the 2011 Copa America tournament held next summer.
MERTESACKER INJURES EYE
Werder Bremen defender Per Mertesacker could miss a month of action after getting injured in Germany's 6-1 qualifying win over Azerbaijan on Tuesday. Mertesacker lasted only 11 minutes before a nasty elbow left him with a gash that required stitches and a broken eye socket. Fortunately, the injury does not require surgery, but it does leave Bremen without one of its best defenders prior to the Champions League opening group match against Tottenham.
BULGARIA COACH STOILOV RESIGNS
The Euro 2012 qualifying campaign has already claimed its first coaching victim, with Bulgaria coach Stanimir Stoilov quitting his post after suffering back to back losses in the team's first two qualifiers. Bulgaria as a nation have only qualified for the European Championships on two occasions — in 1996 and 2004 — and are currently at the bottom of Group G.
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Think Balotelli can recover quickly? Will Tevez be around in 2014? Can Bremen cope without Mertesacker? Which Euro coach will be the next to lose his job?
Share your thoughts below.
Tevez, setting the stage…such a drama queen…what showmanship?
At this point, I’m thinking a scoreless draw.
http://www.woldcupbrazil.com/?mda=88aebe1dae
2-1 Chicago.
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Yowza – that was a sharp and direct hit! How we gonna do tonight, SC?
+1 Got ’em.
Not really, I just think it’s funny that they spend a lot of money on this guy and he gets injured in the first game. It would be nice if MLS teams had the kind of money man city has, Balotelli costs more than almost all of the teams in the MLS.
They aren’t, because they actually took the time to read the entire article.
Ownership envy?
really Tevez?! dang, well, from an MLS stand point, they better start planning to sign him in 4 years!
Bulgaria should focus on 2016. 24 teams in that 1, that should be the best way to qualify for a Euro
His agent is making a killing
LOL @ Manchester City