Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli suffers ear-flicking from his Italy team-mates

Italy’s players saw fit to test the length of Mario Balotelli’s infamously short fuse as they prepared for their Euro 2012 semi-final against Germany.

Azzurri players including Alessandro Diamanti, Fabio Borini and Thiago Motta decided to start flicking Balotelli’s ears during a training session.

Mario takes it all in good humour… at first. The team-mates back off as Mario’s patience begins to wear thin. And the whole matter seems to descend into a very serious discussion about what damage might have been done, including an inspection of Mario’s lugs.