Mario Barwuah Balotelli is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Milan and the Italian national team. He started his professional football career at Lumezzane and played for the first team twice before having an unsuccessful trial at FC Barcelona,and subsequently joining Internazionale in 2007. Inter manager Roberto Mancini
brought Balotelli into the first team, but when Mancini left,
Balotelli's disciplinary record fell away. He had a strained
relationship with new head coach José Mourinho and was suspended from Inter's first team in January 2009 after a number of disciplinary problems.In March 2010, he came under criticism by Inter fans after he appeared on the Italian TV show Striscia la notizia, wearing an A.C. Milan jersey. This damaged the prospect of him having a long career at Inter, but he did make several appearances after that. With doubts over his career at Inter, former coach Roberto Mancini had since moved to Manchester City and decided to give Balotelli a fresh chance at a new club. He joined Manchester City in August 2010, where his performances and off-field activities have continued to be enigmatic and unpredictable. Nicknamed Super Mario,he earned his first cap for the Italian national team on 10 August 2010 in a friendly match against the Côte d'Ivoire.
Early life
Mario Balotelli was born in Palermo, Sicily, to Christian Ghanaian parents Thomas and Rose Barwuah. The family moved to Bagnolo Mella in the province of Brescia, Lombardy, shortly after he was born.As an infant, he had life-threatening complications with his intestines
which led to a series of operations, although his condition had
improved by 1992. Mario's health problems and the family's cramped
living conditions meant the Barwuahs decided to ask for the help of
social services who recommended that he be fosteredIn 1993, the Barwuah family agreed to entrust the three-year-old boy to an Italian foster family, the Balotellis. At first, he stayed at the Balotellis during the weekdays, and returned to his biological parents on weekends, but after a while it was arranged for him to be permanently fostered by the Balotellis His foster parents, Silvia and Francesco Balotelli, who have Jewish Italian heritage, lived in a large house in the affluent village of Concesio, Brescia. When Mario Balotelli became famous, his biological parents asked for his return. He later accused them of "glory hunting", stating that they only wanted him back because of the prominence he had gained.According to Law 91 of 5 February 1992,Balotelli had to wait until his 18th birthday to request Italian citizenship, as the Balotellis had not adopted him. Balotelli officially gained citizenship in Concesio on 13 August 2008.After the ceremony he released the following statement:
| “ | I am Italian, I feel Italian, I will forever play with the Italian National Team. Mario Balotelli | ” |
Manchester City
2010–11
After weeks of speculation Inter reached an agreement for Balotelli's transfer to Manchester City on 12 August 2010 for €22 million, for which Inter made a profit of €21.856 million. At Manchester City Balotelli reunited with his former boss, Roberto Mancini,
who said, "His style of play will suit the Premier League, and because
he is still so young there is a big chance for him to improve. He is a
strong and exciting player, and City fans will enjoy watching him."Balotelli exchanged squad number with teammate Greg Cunningham so that he could continue to wear the number 45 shirt.On 21 December 2010 Balotelli won the Golden Boy Award, saying that only one of the past winners was slightly better than he was – Lionel Messi. He also claimed not to know of Arsenal's Jack Wilshere, the player he narrowly beat to the award. On 28 December 2010 Balotelli scored his first Premier League hat-trick in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa. Despite this success Balotelli still had disciplinary problems, and in March 2011 he was sent off in the second-leg of Manchester City's Europa League draw with Dynamo Kyiv. On 14 May 2011 Balotelli was man of the match in the 2011 FA Cup Final as Manchester City defeated Stoke City 1–0 to win their first trophy in thirty-five years.
2011–12
"The problem is because of his age, he can make some mistakes. He's Mario. He's crazy – but I love him because he's a good guy."
On 22 January 2012, Balotelli came on as a substitute during a match against Tottenham Hotspur. He appeared to stamp on Scott Parker during the match against Tottenham, but, already booked, did not get a second yellow from referee Howard Webb, who did not see the incident.Balotelli subsequently scored his first goal of 2012, an injury-time penalty which secured a 3–2 win for City. He was charged for violent conduct for the kick against Scott Parker and was suspended for four matches, three for violent conduct and one for his second sending off. On 25 February, he scored his tenth league goal of the season in a 3–0 home win against Blackburn Rovers.He scored again the following game in a 2–0 win against Bolton Wanderers. On 31 March, Balotelli scored twice as City drew 3–3 at home against Sunderland. However, Balotelli was criticized for his actions in the match after squabbling with Aleksandar Kolarov over a free kick. Roberto Mancini claimed after the game that he had considered substituting Balotelli just five minutes into the match On 8 April 2012, Balotelli received his fourth red card of the season, after receiving his second yellow card during the match for a tackle against Bacary Sagna during City's 1–0 loss to Arsenal in April 2012. In the same match he had tackled Arsenal's Alex Song and there was speculation about a nine match suspension.However, one of the match officials saw the Song challenge and no action was taken, and according to FA regulations, no retrospective action can be taken if any of the match officials see the offence in question.He was banned for three games (one for the two yellow cards and two for the previous two red cards in the same season). After the Arsenal match, Mancini appeared to have finally lost his patience with Balotelli, suggesting that Balotelli would not play any part in the remainder of City's season and be sold by the club.Despite this, Balotelli did make an appearance as a late substitute in the last game of the season, a title-deciding match against Queens Park Rangers. Balotelli provided the assist to striker Sergio Agüero, who scored in the 94th minute to give City their first league title since 1968.
2012–13
In December 2012, Balotelli decided to fight against Manchester City's decision to fine him two weeks' wages for his poor disciplinary record the previous season by taking his club to a Premier League tribunal. Balotelli missed 11 games domestically and in Europe last season because of suspensions. With less than a day remaining to the start of the hearing, Balotelli dropped his tribunal action and accepted the fine.Milan
"I will remember my brilliant team-mates, the manager and all the
supporters. They are the best, they were great with me and I will always
have a very special place in my heart for City, it's a great club with a
great future."
"I spoke with Roberto before I went to speak to the players. We spoke for some time about lots of things. He was sad, and I was too. But it was a good conversation. I love Roberto, he has been very important for my career, and I will always thank him for having trust and faith in me."
"I spoke with Roberto before I went to speak to the players. We spoke for some time about lots of things. He was sad, and I was too. But it was a good conversation. I love Roberto, he has been very important for my career, and I will always thank him for having trust and faith in me."
Mario Balotelli, in regards to his transfer to Milan
On 3 February 2013, Balotelli made his debut for Milan and scored two goals, including a last minute penalty to earn a 2–1 victory over Udinese. The win lifted Milan to fourth in the table, ahead of Internazionale on goal difference.In the next two matches, Balotelli scored two goals, including 30 yards free-kick against Parma. With that goal, he equaled Oliver Bierhoff's record of four goals in first three matches for Milan. In his fifth appearance Balotelli appeared as a substitute against Genoa and scored his fifth goal for his new club.
In the match against Palermo, Balotelli continued his impressive scoring streak with two more goals, one from penalty and another from an M'Baye Niang cross.
International career
On 7 August 2007, five days before his seventeenth birthday, Balotelli received his first senior International call-up for Ghana from their coach Claude Le Roy for a friendly against Senegal at the New Den stadium in London, England, on 21 August 2007.He declined the offer citing once again his willingness to play for Italy when he became eligible. He also stated his willingness to represent Italy at international level once he acquired an Italian passport.
Italy U-21 coach Pierluigi Casiraghi stated his intention to call up Balotelli once he obtained Italian citizenship. On 13 August 2008 Balotelli was finally given Italian citizenship.
| “ | This is even more exciting than making my debut in Serie A. The best birthday present I could receive now would be a call to join the Italy squad, although I'd be happy to play for the Under 21 team. | ” |
Balotelli was named in the final 23-man squad for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championships and scored the opening goal against the hosts Sweden in the 23rd minute. Barely 15 minutes later he was shown a red card for retaliating against a Swedish midfielder Pontus Wernbloom.
On 10 August 2010, Balotelli made his first appearance for the Italian senior team, as part of the squad announced by new head coach Cesare Prandelli, in a friendly match against Côte d'Ivoire – Italy's first match after the 2010 World Cup.In that match he started alongside debutant Amauri and striker Antonio Cassano in a 1–0 loss. On 11 November 2011, Balotelli scored his first senior international goal in a 2–0 win against Poland at Stadion Miejski in Wrocław, Poland,making him the first black player to do so for Italy.
UEFA Euro 2012
Before the tournament in the Ukraine and Poland kicked off, in June 2012 Balotelli was interviewed by a newspaper about the state of racism in the host countries. During the interview Balotelli reinforced his threats to walk off the pitch if any of the oppositions fans racially abuse him in any way, and said he would 'kill' anyone that threw a banana at him. He spoke about his increasing fears that black players will be targeted by racists and that he refuses to accept racism in any form, talking of his past incidents surrounding racism in football notably during his time playing in Serie A for Internazionale.During the build up to the competition Manchester City's manager Roberto Mancini had repetitively defended Balotelli, but he and footballer Daniele De Rossi believed that Mario would need to grow up and mature if he was going to become the centrepiece of future Italian success.On 10 June 2012, Balotelli also became the first black player to appear for Italy in a major tournament (Euro or World Cup) in a 1–1 draw against Spain, Italy's first match of Euro 2012. Italy and Spain later played each other for the second time in the tournament in the Ukraine's capital city of Kiev. During the 1–1 draw Balotelli failed to make an impact, he was substituted off during the 56th minute after missing multiple chances; specifically a one on one with Spanish goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas just minutes before being subbed off. His replacement was Antonio Di Natale the 34 year-old managed to secure his 11th international goal and put Italy ahead within his time on the pitch. With Balotelli continuing his run of poor form for his nation, fans and critics began calling for Di Natale to replace the "immature and unpredictable striker."
Later in the tournament, on 18 June 2012, Mario Balotelli scored his first goal in a major international tournament in a 2–0 victory against the Republic of Ireland. When he attempted to celebrate this goal, he was immediately halted by teammate Leonardo Bonucci, who covered Balotelli's mouth with his hand for fear that the striker would say something to "get in trouble." Balotelli had been dropped to the bench by Cesare Prandelli prior to the game due to his lack of ability shown in his previous group games, so when he was subbed on against Ireland fans didn't expect him to have much of an impact, and his celebration of his goal may have originally been directed towards the naysayers who believe he is bad for the team. Balotelli went on to start against England in the quarter-finals, his performance was described as wasteful but his effort was rated highly in a game where he missed multiple chances. He scored the first penalty taken in the shootout against his Manchester City teammate Joe Hart.Balotelli scored twice within the first 40 minutes in Italy's semi-final clash with Germany, as the Azzurri won 2–1 and progressed to the Euro 2012 final against European and World champions Spain.Going into the final Balotelli said that, Manchester City's title success meant that failure in the Euros would not signal a personal failure this season. He also said that he was unfazed by the pressure he supposedly has on his shoulders going into the final, with new high expectations of him from his home supporters after his amazing performance against Germany.
During the tournament, Balotelli was subject to a case of racial abuse during the game against Croatia, which led UEFA to fine the Croatian Football Federation €80,000.
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