Balotelli tried to play second half in Italys old shirt

Italy unveiled a new home kit on Monday, which was more than enough for next-level artist Mario Balotelli to turn into a bit of comedy. The team wore their new strip for the first time in Tuesday's friendly against Uruguay and for unknown reasons that can only be explained as "Mario Balotelli," the striker appeared for the second half wearing Italy's old shirt after he had already been wearing the new one in the first half.

Mario played five minutes in the old shirt before he was booked for a mid-air collision with Diego Perez and told to go change by the ref. Balotelli did so and even apologized to Perez for the collision. Here's video of the incident...

I like to think Mario's shirt mix-up was something he did purposefully as a comment on the ridiculous frequency with which new kits are unveiled and sold to loyal fans. Meanwhile, he probably just put the old shirt on when he couldn't find the custom-made bottle rocket coat he really wanted to wear.

After Italy lost the match 1-0, Mario expressed his non-fashion related frustration. From Football Italia:

"I am angry with myself, as I was unlucky and the ball didn't want to go in the net," he told RAI Sport after the 1-0 home loss.

"We're going to Poland and Ukraine to win, otherwise it's the end of the world!"

Consider that a warning.

Photo: Getty