The Italian national team made the journey by train from Florence to Naples, where they will play Armenia in a World Cup qualifier on Tuesday night.
There were hundreds of fans waiting for the squad at the train station and several camera crews.
However, Sport Mediaset reported Mario Balotelli had struck one of their television cameras and tried to knock it to the ground, EuroSport reports.
It is a particularly unusual gesture considering Mediaset are owned by Milan president Silvio Berlusconi, who is technically Super Mario’s boss.
Balotelli had already been irritable on Sunday when posting a photograph of a headline in the Gazzetta dello Sport via Twitter: “Balotelli is ill, but will be there in Naples as a symbol against the Camorra (the local Mafia).”
“This is what you say!” he raged. “I am coming because football is wonderful and everyone should play it where they want, plus there’s a game!!!!”
Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier against Armenia will be preceded by a training session at a football pitch built on land confiscated from the Camorra – the Neapolitan Mafia.
