Taming of the Shrew : The Mario Balotelli story

One of the most colourful characters in modern football who has come to be consistently associated with the word ‘eccentric’, Mario Balotelli never fails to evoke a reaction. Famously arrogant yet ridiculously talented, Super Mario is loved by some, hated by many but can hardly be ignored by anyone.

Always in the news for his eccentric actions and quotes and thus loved by the media, some of Balotelli’s best lines are the jibes at Lionel Messi and Jack Wilshere.

“There is only one player who is a little stronger than me — Messi. All the others are behind me.”

After winning the Golden Boy trophy Jack Wilshere had to bear the snub of his arrogance when Balotelli feigned ignorance at his name by quoting

“What’s his name? Wil…? No, I just don’t know him, but the next time I play against Arsenal I’ll try to be careful. Maybe I could show him the Golden Boy trophy and remind him that I won.”

Famous for giving £1000 to a homeless man on the streets of Manchester and openly flaunting his wealth this bad-boy of football reminds me of the charismatic Eric Cantona. Thank God he hasn’t kung-fu kicked a fan yet! An outlaw at Inter during his Nerazzurri days, even the famous disciplinarian Jose Mourinho failed to tame this shrew. Even the treble winning coach was not spared from a jibe by Balotelli.

“Mourinho is the best coach in the world, but as a man he still needs to learn manners and respect” .

This was the guy who drove through an Italian women’s prison without a permit and when quizzed by the police as to why he decided to go there responded “Just to see what it looks like”. Banned from the Inter Milan team and having had famous altercations on the pitch, perhaps the worst sin he committed was posing with an AC Milan jersey despite being an Inter player. Considered a mortal crime in Italy for crossing the great city divide, Balotelli was then ostracized and his talent lay in slumber.

Then came in Roberto Mancini who had worked with Mario at Inter and knew his talents. Mancini knew Balotelli had serious potential and if his arrogance could be channeled, he could become a truly world-class talent. He decided to give the youngster a new lease of life and brought him to Manchester City. Balotelli’s first season at City was a mixed one where he did bag 10 goals but also bagged an equal amount of cards. (9 yellows and a red). He even faced the wrath of several people from the international media and his attitude came into question after he decided to take his iPad to the substitutes bench during the Euro 2012 qualifiers. He even declared himself homesick craving to return back to Milan.

When the enigmatic Italian crashed his Audi, the cops discovered £5,000 in his back pocket, while checking for any drugs or alcohol in his possession. On interrogating him for the reason of carrying such huge sum of money, Balotelli simply replied- “Because I’m rich” He was fined a week’s wages of £100,000 after he threw darts out of a window at youth team players. When asked why he did so, he coolly responded “I was bored”. This prodigious talent looked all set to implode at Manchester just as he did at Milan. Mancini though kept faith in his signing.

“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.”

This season did not start on the greatest notes for Mario. An audacious back-heel attempt probably to show off his awesome prowess during a pre-season friendly against LA Galaxy left Mancini fuming, who promptly substituted the player. Even his teammates seemed irked by his antics and it looked like Balotelli was headed for another “Milan episode”.

True to his character which is punctuated by hits and misses, the lows of pre-season were followed by some excellent performances once the season began. Balotelli finally began to show signs of realising his potential this season after a string of impressive displays. He has bagged 7 goals from 6 appearances but also 3 yellows. As long as the goals come in Mancini seems happy. The turning point of this season was definitely the spectacular finish against Manchester United in the infamous 6-1 win when he set Old Trafford on fire! What stood out more prominently was his cheeky celebration, again staying true to his character.

Does this string of good performances signify the rise of Balotelli? Will he be able to realize his full potential? Mancini has managed to do something miraculous where even Mourinho had failed to do so. It’s almost like the movie Kung-fu panda where Po manages to reach his full potential after Master Shifu devises a novel method to train him which completely differs from his conventional training methods. I hope Mancini has some secret training methods in his arsenal to turn Balotelli into a real star. After all it takes an Italian to understand a fellow Italian. It looks like the day might indeed come after all when Mario turns into Super Mario. Here’s hoping Balotelli continues his work of letting the ball do the talking.

“I’m not a bad guy but I’m shy. Interviews are hard”

This post also appeared on Lazy Optimist