When the 29-year-old Balotelli returned to the Apennine Peninsula, there was no more overwhelming cheering, flowers and heroic courtesies from fanatical fans. It may be that the summer transfer window of 2019 is so earth-shattering, hazard, Griezmann, Felix have earned enough media attention. When Balotelli returned, only a short message climbed up to the corner of the sports portal "Mario Balotelli joins Serie A promotion class Mabrescia. At this time, he remembered the bold words of winning the Golden Globes seven years ago, would he feel emotional?
On August 12, 1990, Ghanaian immigrant Bawa gave birth to a child in Palermo, Italy, and decided to name the child "Mario". Recently born, Mario was unfortunate to suffer from a intestinal infection and was once in danger. The poor bawas could not afford the expensive treatment and could not bear to see their children gone. One night, they quietly left the hospital. With the help of social welfare agencies, 2-year-old Mario's condition miraculously improved. In 1993, The Balotellis from Brescia adopted Mario.
Years later, the accomplished Balotelli never contacted his biological parents and never referred to them as "parents", but rather as "Mr. Bawa and Ms. Bawa". Although he maintained a good relationship with his biological brother, he never invited his biological parents to watch his game. During his growth, Balotelli encountered countless times of media ridicule and fans boos, but none of them hurt him much from this abandonment. Whenever his biological parents were mentioned, Balotelli would still roar, "They abandoned me!" ”
Even in Italy today, racial discrimination occurs from time to time, not to mention italy in the last century. Mario was the only black child living in the white community of Concesio, where other white children would occasionally run up to him and taunt him about his complexion. Young Mario, a man of exotic land, the sky full of loneliness, endures the hardships of life.
(Balotelli and adoptive parents, adoptive father Franco Balotelli died in 2015)
Very lucky. The Balotellis gave Mario the same care as his biological parents. Whenever the racist Mario ran home crying, his adoptive mother Sylvia would help him wipe away his tears, while his father, Franco, would take Balotelli to teach the racist boy a lesson.
(Young Balotelli at Inter)
Under the care of his adoptive parents, Balotelli thrived and showed amazing football talent, with a strong body, precise shooting skills, and excellent sense of running position that made him stand out from his peers. In February 2005, an ordinary Serie A game attracted the attention of all the big club scouts in the Apennines, and the 15-year-old Balotelli made the record for the youngest appearance in the Italian professional league for Lumezzane; in 2006, Inter Milan threw an olive branch to Balotelli; in 2007, Balotelli made his first appearance for inter Milan's first team; in 2008, Balotelli broke the record for the youngest goal scorer in the Champions League and won the Serie A title with the team. At the age of 18, he received an annual salary of $1.2 million.
During Balotelli's 29 years, he had three fathers. Thomas Bawa was his biological father, Franco Balotelli was his adoptive father, and Robert Mancini was his father in the sense of football.
(Robert Mancini)
Balotelli had been playing in the echelon for his first season at Inter, but then-first-team manager Mancini was paying attention to him. In the 2007-2008 season, Inter fronts were filled with Adriano, IbrahimoVic, Crespo and many other players, and Mancini added the 17-year-old Balotelli to the squad from the warm-up match, squeezing out 11 appearances for him in the league and cup matches. Balotelli lived up to Mancini's expectations, scoring 3 goals in 11 games, a pretty good answer for a youngster who is not yet an underage player.
But Balotelli's bright prospects at Inter soon faded with Mancini's departure. The maverick Bartheon encounters the "most special one" – Jose Mourinho.
Munirio is extremely good at building emotional connections with players. In his two seasons in charge of Inter, he won the hearts and minds of all the players: Materazzi worshipped him, Milito said he would always be the inter's number one coach, Cesar said Munirio was better than his father...
Except for Balotelli. Mourinho did not know how to arouse the enthusiasm of this boyish striker, and Balotelli could not understand Mourinho.
(Balotelli and Mourinho)
The laid-back attitude and loose tactical execution shown in training have gradually marginalized Balotelli's side in Mourinho, and balotelli has been forgotten on the bench for more time. But Mancini did not forget him, and on 26 July 2010, Balotelli moved to Manchester City of Mancini for 28 million euros.
(Mancini and Balotelli reunite at Manchester City)
If we talk about the two seasons of Inter and Mancini, Mancini showed Balotelli more of a father's love for his young son. Two seasons at Manchester City, Mancini to Balotelli is the father's harshness and care for his adolescent rebellious son.
Manchester City's Balotelli is still unashamed, even more rebellious. Manchester City gave him a thick stack of fines for being late for training. During training, he would kick the ball indiscriminately, even clashing with his shoveling teammates and Mancini who came to stop him. In 2011, in a warm-up match against the LA Galaxy, Balotelli staged one of his "masterpieces": David Silva delivered a wonderful straight plug, and Balotelli, who won near the penalty spot, may have quickly integrated into the entertainment culture of the United States, stopped the ball and turned around under the gaze of tens of thousands of fans at Deplo Center Court at home, and completed the shot with his heels in a gorgeous Marseille swivel motion. Of course, the ball rolled out of bounds from the side away from the goal without any accident.
(In 2013, the father and son of the two clashed in training))
Every time Balotelli's deviance was severely reprimanded by Mancini, Balotelli was sometimes silent and sometimes jumped out to openly confront Mancini. After the conflict, Mancini and Balotelli will soon be reconciled. Aguero recalls: "They trained like cats and dogs, and then they would put their arms around each other's shoulders and leave. They would yell at each other and curse each other, but soon there would be a father-son drama. ”
Despite his personable appearance, Mancini has not been a good-tempered man since his time as a player, playing for Sampdoria and five times playing with teammate Francis on the training ground. As a coach, his temper was still hot, Adriano was completely cold after clashing with him, and Bellamy, who also clashed with him on the training ground, was angrily scolded by him and sent to the Championship. The tolerance of Balotelli again and again is obviously not in line with Mancini's character, far beyond the relationship between the average player and the manager.
Mancini may be the only head coach who can understand Balotelli, and probably the only one who can fully exert his powers. In the 2011-2012 season, Balotelli under Mancini delivered 16 goals in 28 games. In the 38th round of the Premier League title battle, he also delivered a key assist to help Aguero beat the Queen's Park Rangers and win the first Premier League title in The history of Manchester City.
When Balotelli left Mancini again in 2013, it meant his long loss. Despite occasional highlights in Milan and Nice, his career without Mancini has been generally bleak. Allegri abandoned him, Rogers completely snubbed him after a fruitless exchange, Klopp sent him away, and no coach could tolerate him as much as Mancini.
On May 15, 2018, Mancini became the head coach of the Italian national team, and the two were reunited in the national team.
Harshness and care, reprimand and pampering, infinite tolerance after every mistake, the author does not know what kind of attempt Mancini has, and I do not believe in what kind of attempt Mancini has, this may be the father-son relationship of the football field.
Balotelli on the pitch always switched between angels and devils. The European Championship trip in 2012 could not be better.
In the first round of the group stage against Spain, the pinnacle of two World Cup winners, Balotelli made a joke that rivaled the 2011 one-handed sword. Barrotelli, who had broken the ball from the foot of Ramos on the right and entered the penalty area, had become a one-handed knife, Casillas retreated to the goal line, crouched down slightly with open arms to seal the near corner of the goal, ready to deal with Bashin's signature powerful burst. The shocking situation occurred, Balotelli just slowly and leisurely paced forward with the ball, without the slightest intention of shooting, Ramos quickly put back into place, with a clean and ferocious shovel to regain the ball. The head coach Prandelli was furious and immediately replaced the life-thinking Balotelli, while the substitute Deanatalle contributed an equaliser to Italy.
(Balotelli thinks about life and is snatched by Ramos)
While people were still expecting some jokes from Balotelli in future games, Super Mario came back. The volley against Ireland in the group stage was just an appetizer, and the final four match against Germany became the pinnacle of Balotelli.com.
Germany, which was more optimistic before the game, also entered the form faster, with Hummels's volley in front of goal being cleared by Pirlo at the goal line, and Kroos's long-range shot and Khedira's forward insertion posed a great threat to Buffon.
In the 20th minute of the game, Cassano received a direct pass from Chiellini on the left and turned lightly to instantly get rid of hummels and Boateng, who were heeled, and gave a precise pass with his left foot. Balotelli, who was in place in the middle, pressed Bad Stubel to complete the header and score! Two unyielding Italian talents completed a wonderful connection, and Cassano's elegance and Balotelli's strength were on full display in this goal.
The real climax of the game came in the 36th minute. Montolivo sent a long 50-metre cross from the left side of the field, and Balotelli, with his keen sense of smell and excellent consciousness, successfully countered the offside, stopped the ball and formed a single knife. How would he choose? Is it pushing, is it to speed up to shake off Ram over Neuer, or to think about life like against Spain?
Behind him is Ram, who is about to return to the defensive position, and in front of him is the world-class goalkeeper Neuer. Balotelli did not hesitate, he chose the most temperamental way to shoot: burst into the upper corner of the goal. Neuer, known for his quick reflexes, did not have time to make a save in front of goal, and the ball rushed into the top right corner of the goal like a cannonball.
Balotelli stripped to celebrate after the goal. His expression was not joyful, and he stood up angrily, showing his well-defined muscle lines to fans all over the world, standing like a god of war at the Warsaw Stadium in Poland.
Angels or devils, but Balotelli is a flesh-and-blood man after all.
The meticulous care of his adoptive parents and the sincere teachings of his mentor Mancini cannot completely offset the trauma of childhood abandonment and racial discrimination, so Balotelli's personality has a lot of obedient and violent elements. He feels lonely, he can't be understood, and he often does a lot of weird things to get people's attention. His violations of the rules and laws should be punished, but in the face of those strange but not contrary to moral laws, we should not be too harsh, let alone look at Balotelli with the eyes of a monster.
I saw the footage of Balotelli running to the stands to hug his adoptive mother Silvia after the final four matches with Germany; I saw two long tear marks on Balotelli's face after the fiasco in the final defeat to Spain; I also saw Balotelli's gratitude to Mancini: "Coach Mancini has helped me improve the most, he is an admirable head coach."
(After losing the final, Balotelli burst into tears)
The labels that the media put on Balotelli weren't enough to encapsulate him, or not him at all. He behaves well, but he knows how to be grateful; he is childish and ridiculous, but he can take up the burden in the much-anticipated European Cup. The combination of these contradictory factors is that Balotelli is a real person.