(ANSA) - Rome, August 28 - The doors of the Italian national team are still open for Mario Balotelli and the AC Milan striker now has to show he deserves a recall after a dismal spell at Liverpool, Azzurri coach Antonio Conte said Friday. "The doors of the national team aren't closed for anyone, you must show you deserve to be in this group, through performances, conduct, and important moral aspects we care a lot about. It's up to Balotelli to show he deserves to come back," said the coach.
Earlier Milan coach Sinisa Mihajlovic said Balotelli knows that his second term with AC is his last chance to revive his career.
"Mario is the same good lad he's always been. He himself knows he's made a lot of mistakes, thrown away years of his career and that this is the last train," said the Serbian coach ahead of Sunday's home match with Empoli.
"If he failed here he would be finished," Mihajlovic said.
"And that would be a shame because he's a lad of 25 with major potential that he's never expressed at the top level because of the life he has led".