Italy striker Andrea Belotti insists he and Ciro Immobile are friends not rivals despite the duo sharing the role of Azzurri striker.
The Torino man started and netted a brace on Tuesday to help Roberto Mancini’s men past Liechtenstein 5-0, whereas the Lazio man led the line against Greece on Saturday.
Despite being in direct competition with one another, Belotti made it clear their friendship isn’t in question.
“We aren’t rivals,” he told Rai Sport after the match. “We are friends. We stay in the same room and are always together, whether we are with the national team or not.
“He is a special person to me, and that goes beyond our work.”
Belotti’s two goals on Tuesday takes his personal tally against Liechtenstein to five, and while they seem to bring him luck, he feels Italy are firing on all cylinders as a whole.
“Liechtenstein bring me luck, I scored two goals last time against them and two today,” he added.
“I’m very happy, especially with the team’s performance. We tried to do what the coach asked of us, and we did that better in the second half and it showed.”
Source: forzaitalianfootball.com