Belotti 'the rooster' is crowing again

Following a couple of years where his form dropped off , Andrea Belotti is seemingly firing on all cylinders both with his club and national team again and that is welcome news.

In the aftermath of Italy's 5-0 victory over Liechtenstein, Belotti exclaimed that playing them "brings me luck", and that is not something of which the Calcinate born striker has always had much of lately. The 25-year old suffered two knee injuries in the 2017-2018 campaign and missed seven games, including a Coppa Italia quarter-final versus city rivals Juventus. He still managed a somewhat respectable 13 goals in 35 games, but it was a far cry from the previous season, when he racked up 28 strikes in 38 outings and was linked with a number of top clubs.

Last year was one of stabilization for the former Palermo hit-man, as he played the entire season more or less injury free, but it seemed something was missing from him. Now though, so far, Belotti is back with a bang, as he has 11 goals in 13 games for his club and three in two starts with the national team in the current campaign.

Belotti got his nickname after his childhood friend whose last name was Gallo, jokingly told him he should celebrate whenever he scored a goal by mimicking a rooster's comb with an open hand to his forehead. A joke turned into reality and the Torino man has been using the ruse at football grounds all around Italy and Europe.