gotta love irish fans

Mario is playing against 11 opponents, 40 000 fans and god knows how many racists.

nobody should speak a f*#@!ng word about him being "a baby or a douche."

if i were him and someone was throwing bananas at me, i would respond with the exact same threat, "I'll kill you."

Glad to know that some of these athletes are still human... not little prima donna pursy vaginas like Ronaldo.

God Bless Balotelli's public response to fame, people and the media... a big f*****g black / italian finger... TIEH!

AND FIFA/EA SPORTS, IF YOU'RE READING THIS, YOU BETTER MAKE SURE TO PUT BALOTELLI'S CELEBRATION IN THE GAME.. WHEN I RIP THEM TOP CORNER WITH HIS ROCKET RIGHT FOOT YOU BETTER NOT HAVE HIM FLIPPING AND DIVING AND SCREAMING WITH HIS ARMS WAILING ABOUT... I WANT HIM TO LOOK GRUMPY AND WALK SLOW AND PERHAPS EVEN YELL AT THE OTHER PLAYERS.

THANK YOU.

Im really wondering what he was trying to say before Bonucci shut him up though..

Well there we have it again, so obvious; why have such tournaments when UEFA and FIFA already decided the teams to push though for the later stages. Did not watch the game but just from the highlights, you can see Andrews was a beast on the field. Italy could not contain him at all throughout the game. So, the obvious kick him out why oh he was pushing while running; atleast find a better reason.

For some reason feel England will pull though beating Italy. England play a lot similar to Ireland but with more pace. So far, Italy has some amazing linkup in mid-field but really bad in defense. And their strikers are waiting for fumbles or mistakes from the opponent.

I don't get why Andrews got the second yellow card

Not the best performance by Italy, but i still think they have good chances to win this cup. I like to see Natale & Cassano upfront. I also dont think France would be a tough side

Balotelli can be a genius! How could you not love him when he is playing like that... Hopefully we can meet Italy again in the final.

Italians are pathetic.

It's too bad Ireland only got the one goal for there fans, they had some great fans and good to see, too bad they didn't win any games but they had a tough group too. Good still for them though. Nice being there forsure. As for Italy good team defensively for sure, got some good players all around, just not the best for me. Good goals from Cassano and wow Balotelli got sick goal there, good stuff for them to advance.

Haha I have never seen a player with as much attitude as Balotelli... Super strike. Glad to see his teammates shut him up before he pulled another stunt though haha

BALLS ARE READY

gotta hate mario balotelli....

1. ridiculous refereeing
2. pretty lucky that italy qualified considering spain's late goal and ireland had lots of chances to end the game with a draw
3. beautiful goal by balotelli, im pretty sure he was screaming "YESSSSS IM COOL AGAIN" deep in his heart

Looks like Italy is getting their groove back. Ireland surprisingly has some good players. They just didn't have enough of them to get a good flow going. Otherwise they could have been a real threat this tournament.

anyone know why keith andrews got sent off?