18 years... Super Mario's wait was a long one, but it was worth it: not even a month after receiving his official Italian citizenship papers, Balotelli has already conquered Italian hearts. His goal vs. Greece's U-21 team today was magnificent, but alas was not enough for the Azzurrini to get an automatic bye to the [. Click to continue reading...

Otto Rehhagel, aka King Otto, has picked his 24-man national team squad and it includes AEK's center-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos.  Papastathopoulos, age 19, is the only youth player to have made the next-to-final cut (the 24-man team named for Saturday's friendly will have to be trimmed by one player prior to Euro 2008). Click to continue reading...