Mario Balotelli made an extremely athletic play in Italy’s 2014 FIFA World Cup game Tuesday.
Unfortunately for him and his teammates, it also was pretty stupid.
In the 22nd minute of Italy’s crucial Group D matchup against Uruguay, Balotelli went soaring through the air in an acrobatic attempt to play the ball. Instead, his knee made direct contact with a Uruguay player’s head.
Not only were Balotelli’s acrobatics pretty unnecessary, they also were costly, as the Italian striker was given a yellow card as a result. It was the second yellow of the World Cup for Balotelli, meaning that if Italy advanced out of the group stage, he would have been forced to sit out of their next match.
Balotelli’s miscue proved a non-factor at the end of the day, however, as Uruguay scored in the 81st minute to advance to the knockout round and send the Azzurri home with a crushing early exit.
GIF via Deadspin
