Andrea Pirlo believes Italy's World Cup chances can be greatly bolstered by Mario Balotelli.
Balotelli was an integral part of Italy's unbeaten qualifying campaign, scoring five goals.
"We know it's a difficult group, but I really like the atmosphere in Brazil," Pirlo said in an interview with La Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Do we depend on Mario Balotelli? Partly yes, but we are all important to the cause. Mario is old enough now, so he doesn’t need advice any more.
"He just needs to focus on finding his form in the summer, concentrate on the football and leave the rest alone."