Remember that shirt with the words “Why always me?”, the reports of deploying fireworks indoors, fighting with his teammates, sulking at being substituted or simply not showing up in time for training? Those kinds of stories became synonymous of the now-31-year-old Ghanaian-Italian footballer. But how much do we really know about the kind of person Mario Balotelli grew up to be?Mario spoke to Nedum Onuoha, the player with whom he shared the Manchester City dressing room a decade ago. And even the former defender cannot believe about how much Mario had grown up in the meantime. He published an intriguing interview with the globe-trotting goalscorer at The Athletic.Jose Mourinho’s legendary story about Mario Balotelli’s red card at Inter Milan pic.twitter.com/o2oijul8wf— Sports of Life (@SportsOfLife_) February 22, 2022 This guy has that god-given talent to do magical things with a football. And he used to shock his Manchester City teammates by claiming that he was just as good as Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. A few of the guys thought that the Italian, 20 at the time, was only joking yet again. But the guy dubbed as Super Mario was serious. The years had gone by, Messi and Ronaldo have been recognized as two of the best players who have ever played the game. Mario – not so much. But he still believes in his ability.”I missed some chances to be at that level. But I am 100 per cent sure that my quality is the same level as these people, but I… I missed some chances, you know? It happens. And nowadays, you cannot compare yourself to Messi and Ronaldo, nobody can. But if we’re talking about only quality, football quality, I have nothing to be jealous of them, to be honest.”🇮🇹 Mario Balotelli against Germany ⚽️⚽️Wait for it… 😎#TB | @FinallyMario | @Azzurri_En pic.twitter.com/vK73GwimdG— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) March 2, 2022 Mario left Manchester City just after that iconic Sergio Aguero goal that won the title for the sky blues of Manchester. Looking back, he regrets ever leaving the club.”I think that was my biggest mistake, to leave City. Even in the year when I left, I played very well in Milan for a year and a half, but after that, I had some problems. And now that I’m older, I know that I shouldn’t have left City at that time.”English media loved having Mario around because he was an endless source of stories that would sell newspapers. It wasn’t an environment for a young player, nor it portrayed him in the right light in the eyes of the public.”The newspapers were talking… like, creating stories every time. The papers used to say that I’d done this or that, but it would have been impossible because I’d been in my house at the time. They used to create so many stories. They created the Mario Balotelli in England. Most of the things that people think about me, they’re not real.”Friday, 20.00: (3.80) Malatyaspor (3.45) Demirspor (2.00)Balotelli says the big change in his character came with the birth of his children and the responsibility that brings. The change also came by moving to a club in the quiet city of Adana. After years of playing in Italy and France, Mario accepted the call from Adana Demirspor, a club from the city of Adana.”At this moment, there are not really people talking bad about me. I’m very quiet. I don’t do anything special. I’m always training. Thank God, I live in a city where there is not much to do. You can go to the cinema or something like this, so there is really nothing to talk about here. And that’s what I always want, I want people to talk about football, not my life, you know, and this is happening now so I’m happy about this.”This is Mario Balotelli – but not as you know him.@kickback_nedum tracks down his former #MCFC team-mate to talk regrets, racism, title wins and growing up.— The Athletic UK (@TheAthleticUK) March 2, 2022 Who knew? Mario Balotelli thanks God because he gets to go to training, play football and be with his family. Recently, he also got a call-up for the Italian national team after years of being at a level too low for the reigning European champions. And above all, Mario is a good guy. You can even say he’s Super.
