"I would have gone crazy": former Italy star speaks out about the penalty scandal in the match with Ukraine

Adana Demirspor striker Mario Balotelli called the violation against Mykhailo Mudryk in the match between the national teams of Ukraine and Italy in the Azzurri penalty area obvious. The former player of the Italian national team noted that his compatriot Brian Cristante had clearly knocked down the Ukrainian winger.

Balotelli said this on the air of Tvplay, writes the portal lazionews24.com. The 2012 UEFA Euro 2012 vice-champion emphasized that he would be angry if the referees did not award a penalty for such a violation against him. At the same time, the Italian expressed confidence that the goalkeeper of the "scudra" Gianluigi Donnarumma would have parried the shot from the "point".

"A foul by Cristante on Mudryk? I would have gone crazy if such a foul had not been whistled on me. This is definitely a penalty. It's not a big deal that we got to the European Championships in this way, but just think about one thing: what would our reaction be if such a moment happened in the opposite direction? It's a penalty. Period. Mudryk was ahead of Cristante and it was a foul. Period. There is no doubt about it. But Donnarumma would have taken it anyway, no matter what," Balotelli said.

It should be noted that even the Azzurri's captain Gianluigi Donnarumma admitted that the defender had violated the rules. Social media reacted strongly to the episode, and Italian media did not defend the referee. Russian journalists also agreed that Ukraine was condemned.

The national team of Ukraine will continue to fight for a ticket to Euro 2024 in the playoffs. All the schedules for Serhiy Rebrov's team in the head-to-head matches have been published. In addition, the place of the "blue and yellows" during the draw of the final part of the tournament is known.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the European Football Union (UEFA) has banned Ukrainian fans from holding a rally to remind them of Russian aggression at the match with Italy.

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