Italy striker Mario Balotelli joked on Thursday that if his side rescue England’s chances of World Cup qualification by beating Costa Rica, he expects a kiss from British monarch Queen Elizabeth II.
England’s 2-1 loss to Uruguay in Sao Paulo left them on the verge of elimination and they need Italy to beat Costa Rica in Recife on Friday if they are to stand any chance of reaching the last 16.
“If we beat Costa Rica I want a kiss, obviously on the cheek, from the UK Queen,” Balotelli wrote in a tweet to his 2.36 million Twitter followers, moments after the final whistle in the England-Uruguay game.
Balotelli, who spent two-and-a-half years at English side Manchester City, has already harmed England’s hopes of progressing from Group D by scoring the winning goal for Italy in a 2-1 victory when the sides met in Manaus last Saturday.