MANAUS, Brazil — With one nod of his head, Mario Balotelli gave Italy a 2-1 win over England and put the four-time champions in position to go far at the World Cup.
The often volatile and often brilliant Italy striker was left unmarked at the far post, giving him plenty of space to head a cross from Antonio Candreva past goalkeeper Joe Hart for the winning goal.
Claudio Marchisio had scored first for Italy, sending a long shot through a crowded area and past a diving Hart in the 35th. Daniel Sturridge equalized for England two minutes later, tapping in a cross from Wayne Rooney.
Ballotelli's header came in the 50th, but with the heat and humidity at the Arena da Amazonia slowing the pace of play in the second half, it came at just the right time.
"We won, but now let's keep our feet on the ground, otherwise we're not going anywhere," Balotelli said.
The match was played in the Amazonian city of Manaus, the most exotic of the 12 World Cup venues for this year's tournament. According to FIFA, it was 30 degrees C (86 degrees F) with humidity at 61 percent for the match.
"At times it felt like having hallucinations due to the heat," said Claudio Marchisio, who scored Italy's opening goal.
In the other Group D match, Costa Rica beat Uruguay 3-1. So both England and Uruguay, who meet Thursday, have plenty of work to do to advance.
"We all need time to digest what happened on the field," England coach Roy Hodgson said. "My gut feeling is that we did very good things. There were some very good individual performances."
Balotelli is one of the most talented strikers in football, but there were some predictions heading into the World Cup that he would be dropped in favor of Ciro Immobile.
Immobile, who plays for Torino, scored a hat trick last weekend in a warm-up match against Brazilian club Fluminense. Coach Cesare Prandelli, however, decided to stick with his main man, and it certainly looked like the right choice.
"He gave everything he had," Prandelli said.
Prandelli was pleased with both the team performance and the preparations in Coverciano, Italy's training base back in Florence.
"We played well. It was a tough victory but we maintained supremacy in the middle of the pitch," he said. "We worked well in Coverciano and you could see that. They (England) had cramps midway through the second half, and that shows that our work paid off."
Balotelli was born to Ghanaian immigrants and raised by Italian foster parents, and has often been forced to deal with racist chanting in Italy. However, the abuse hasn't prevented him from becoming a key player for the national team — scoring two goals in the semifinal win over Germany at the 2012 European Championship.
Until Saturday, he hadn't scored for the national team since October.
"This was a very difficult (game) because England are a good team and there was the climate as well," Balotelli said. "We suffered, but then that's typical for Italy — the important thing is to win. "
Balotelli nearly found the net in first-half injury time, running deep into the area and enticing Hart to come off his line. The Italy striker stopped, looked toward goal and sent a chip over the keeper's head but Phil Jagielka headed the ball over the bar.
England's attack-minded lineup made frequent runs into the Italy area throughout the match, and came close to scoring several times.
The best of the chances came in the 24th when Danny Welbeck sent the ball across the front of goal but Andrea Barzagli was able to slide in and tip the ball up in the air. Raheem Sterling, who had been running in from the left, jumped for the header but couldn't reach it, letting the ball go past him as he tumbled into the net.
Italy played without the injured Gianluigi Buffon. The 36-year-old Italy goalkeeper, who can play in his fourth World Cup if he is able to recover from an ankle problem, was replaced by Salvatore Sirigu.
The PSG keeper stepped up and made several good saves, but the best may have come in the 77th when he dived to his left to block a free kick from Leighton Baines.
While the players managed to play through the heat, there was an injury on the England bench when team physio Gary Lewin dislocated his ankle while celebrating Sturridge's goal.
England and Italy were playing each other at the World Cup for only the second time. They also met in the third-place match at the 1990 World Cup, with the Italians also winning 2-1.