Trying to explain what Mario Balotelli is like to somebody, is like trying to explain how babies are made to a 5 year old. They'll laugh, they'll cringe and eventually become confused. Not even Mario himself can explain his personality. "If I tried to explain my personality to you, we'd be here for 2 days", he once said to an interviewer while at Manchester City. With his big personality, the clothes, the cars, the girls, jewelry and most importantly, the footballing skills, Mario Balotelli has become one of the biggest icons in not just Italy, but the world. However, a lot of people don't know much about him and that creates a lot of misconceptions.
~Who He Was
Mario Barwuah was born into a poor Ghanaian family in Palermo, Sicily. Nearly dying from an intestine disease at the age of three and not being able to afford the medical bills, his parents sent Mario to a foster family in Brescia, a town not too far away from Milan. The Balotelli family. Thanks to the Balotelli's, Mario's life was saved and within a matter of weeks, he started playing football for the first time in his life. By the age of six, Mario would go everyday after school to a football field and play for hours and hours each day with either friends or by himself. He would try to mimic players on the Azzurri at the time and try to be just like them. Mario took this very seriously and truly wanted to get better each day. On days when he wasn't able to play, Mario said he would cry for the rest of the day and not eat dinner. The Balotelli's saw that Mario had talent and decided to let him start playing competitively for a small club team in Brescia. At the age of 16, Mario got his first crack at professional football with Serie C1 side, Lummezzane. Coaches instantly saw the potential Mario had, but Mario was only able to make 2 appearences with the senior team. Despite barely making it with the senior team at Lummezzane, Inter knew Mario was something to look out for and when he was 18, Inter signed him to a 3 year contract. This is where Mario Balotelli really started to shine and become the player many coaches knew he could be. Two years before he was even old enough to drink in the United States, Mario played a vital role in Inter winning the Treble in 2010 by winning the Scudetto, Coppa Italia and the Champions League. Newly equipped with big money, Manchester City bought Mario from Inter for 21.8 million euros. Mario said that the only reason he went to City was because of Roberto Mancini. Despite having a manager he felt comfortable with, Mario's career started to spiral out of control. The British media started to see this and were instantly all over party boy Mario. There are hundreds of rumors of things Mario did while in England, but he has said most of them are false and made up. From lighting fireworks in his bathroom to getting in a physical argument with Mancini, Mario's time in Manchester was mostly in turmoil. However, despite these incidents, Mario performed well and continued to give Italians hope that he can be a great player for the Azzurri. In 2012, on one of the most ridiculous days in football, Mario fell down to poke the ball to teammate, Sergio Aguero, who scored the goal that would win Manchester City their first Premier League title in 44 years. The run of good fortune continued for Mario with the Azzurri. In the Euros, Mario was one of the most clinical and phenomenal players for not just Italy, but in the entire tournament as well. Italy was put in the same group as defending World and European champions Spain, alongside Croatia and Ireland. Italy and Spain were clear favorites to get out of the group stage, but the world was watching with intent eyes on which would win the group. It was Mario's first major international tournament and it was the perfect opportunity to show just how good he was. He did that and more. Mario scored a spectacular over-the-head goal against Ireland to secure Italy's spot in the quarter-finals against England. Versus England, Mario did what he did best and scored a PK against, then teammate, Joe Hart, to help Italy into the semi-final against international giants, Germany. Germany were the favorites in this match and heavily eyed on to win the tournament. However, everyone knew it would be a very good match as Italy showed they were back to their usual ways and also how Italian teams tend to have the Germans number. It was the case that night as Mario single-handedly took the Germans down with two incredible goals. His iconic flexing of the muscles celebration came from his absolute rocket into the upper 90 to put Italy up 2-0 and seal the game up to jump into the Final against Spain. Italy went on to lose by a big scoreline of 4-0 to Spain in the Final, but Italians were extremely happy with not only the team's performance, but also with what Mario Balotelli showed he can do. Unfortunately, even with his great performances with the national team, Mario saw little time with City the following season. This led to wide speculation as if Mario might be sold and after his incident with Mancini at the training ground, it was clear: Mario had to go. On January 29, 2013, Adriano Galliani pulled the trigger and brought Mario to AC Milan for 25 million euros.
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