Mario Balotelli

Conflicts

On December 3, 2010, at a training session, Manchester City got into a fight with Jerome Boateng.

April 30, 2011 grappled with his teammate Vincent Kompany.

On December 15, 2011, he got into a fight with teammate Mika Richards, but the players soon reconciled.

On January 3, 2013, at a Manchester City training session, he had a falling out with head coach Roberto Mancini.

Personal life

From June 2011 to April 2012, he was in a relationship with Italian model Raffaella Fico. In July 2012, the girl announced her pregnancy. December 5, 2012 gave birth to a daughter named Pia. However, Balotelli refused to acknowledge paternity without a genetic test, a positive result of which became known on February 5, 2014, as reported by the player via twitter.

Since March 2013, she has been dating Fanny Neguesha.

Mario's older sister, Abigail Barwua, has a child with another famous player, Obafemi Martins.

Between 2012 and 2014 Balotelli was the main forward of the Italian national team. He helped her take bronze at the 2013 Confederations Cup and reach the final of the 2014 World Cup. At the tournament itself, Balo scored the winner in a 2-1 win over the English, but didn't score anything else, and his team was eliminated in the group stage. Antonio Conte, who came to the team, began to call Balotelli less often, and after his failure at Liverpool, he completely excluded him from the application for the national team.

Balotelli made his debut for the national team in the first match after the 2010 World Cup. It was a friendly match against Côte d'Ivoire (1:0). And he scored his first goal in the qualifying match for Euro 2012 against Poland (2:0). Super Mario became the first black player to play for Italy at the European Championships. As part of the national team, he took part in Euro 2012. On June 28, in the semi-final match against Germany, he scored two goals and led his team to the final of the championship, where the Italians lost to Spain 4-0. Top scorer of Euro 2012 (3 goals).

National career

In 2007, the Ghanaian Football Federation tried to lure him away, but Mario rejected her offer, expressing a desire to play for the Italian national team. On September 5, 2008, he made his debut for the Italian youth team in a duel against the Greeks, in which he was able to equalize (1:1). In the summer of 2009, he went with the national team to the European Youth Championship. He scored a goal in his debut match against Sweden, but then he was sent off for a foul on Pontus Wernbloom and did not enter the field again. His team reached the semifinals, where they lost to the Germans (0:1).

"Adana Demirspor"

On July 7, 2021, he signed a contract with the Turkish club Adana Demirspor, which returned to the Turkish Premier League.

"Monza"

On December 7, 2020, Balotelli, as a free agent, moved to Monza, signing a contract until the end of the season. On December 30, in his debut match for the new club, Balotelli scored the first goal for Monza. In the 2020/21 season, Balloteli played 12 games and scored 5 goals.

"Brescia"

In 2019, Balotelli signed a one-year contract with Brescia. In the new team, he will receive 1.5 million euros, but due to bonuses, the amount of payments can increase to 4 million. The parties may extend the contract for one more season. The leadership of Brescia has repeatedly expressed claims that Balotelli misses training, as a result, the contract with the Italian striker was terminated on June 6 by agreement of the parties. In the 2019/20 season, Balloteli played 19 games and scored 5 goals.

"Olympic Marseille"

On January 23, 2019, he signed a contract with Marseille until the end of the 2018/19 season. Two days later, Mario made his debut for a new club, scoring a goal against Lille. For the remainder of the season, Balotelli was a regular starter, scoring seven more goals.

The 2017/18 season did not start very well, the team failed to break into the Champions League group stage, losing to Napoli. On February 16, 2018, having scored a double in the first match of the 1/16 finals of the Europa League with Lokomotiv (2:3), he reached the clear first place in the list of the club's top scorers in the 21st century. The Italian had 38 goals for the French club. On March 2, he scored a goal in the match of the 28th round with Lille (2:1). The striker scored the 3000th goal of the club in the history of the championship of France. In September, due to excess weight, he was withdrawn from the main team of the club. With a height of 189 centimeters, Balotelli's weight was 100 kilograms, which is 12 kilograms above the norm. The player almost completely missed the pre-season training of Nice, as he was seriously determined to move to Marseille in the summer, but the deal did not take place. A few days later, the striker returned to the squad.

Despite various rumors that sent Balotelli to other clubs, Mario decided to stay. On June 25, he signed a new contract with Nice. The Italian signed an agreement for a period of one season.

On September 11, he made his debut in the championship in the match of the 4th round against Marseille (3:2), scoring two goals. First, the striker converted a penalty in the 7th minute of the meeting, and in the 78th minute closed the canopy of Ricardo Pereira. After the game he was named the best player of the meeting. On December 18, he scored a double in a match with Dijon (2:1). On February 19, 2017, he was sent off for two yellow cards in a match against Lorient (1:0). This was Balotelli's third removal this season. Later, the French Professional Football League announced the cancellation of the second card. The disciplinary commission recognized as erroneous the decision of the chief referee Olivier Toile, who sent the player off at the end of the meeting. On May 8, he scored in a match with Marseille (1:2). The Italian scored his 15th goal in the current competition, breaking his personal best in goals for the season. Balotelli's previous achievement (14 goals) was set in the 2013/14 season, when he scored for Milan. In his first season for the Eagles, Balotelli was able to score seventeen goals in all competitions. In the league, he was able to score 15 goals in 23 matches and become the team's top scorer and enter the top 5 of Ligue 1, which helped Nice to take third place and qualify for the Champions League. Nice President Jean-Pierre River noted Balotelli's success and praised the Italian for his tenacity, as well as his playing discipline:

I am glad that Balotelli has adapted well at the club, he has become a valuable part of the team. Now Mario has an excellent relationship in the team and personally with Lucien Favre. I am sure that if Mario had met Favre earlier, he would now be playing in a higher-ranking club.

On September 11, he made his debut in the championship in the match of the 4th round against Marseille (3:2), scoring two goals. First, the striker converted a penalty in the 7th minute of the meeting, and in the 78th minute closed the canopy of Ricardo Pereira. After the game he was named the best player of the meeting. On December 18, he scored a double in a match with Dijon (2:1). On February 19, 2017, he was sent off for two yellow cards in a match against Lorient (1:0). This was Balotelli's third removal this season. Later, the French Professional Football League announced the cancellation of the second card. The disciplinary commission recognized as erroneous the decision of the chief referee Olivier Toile, who sent the player off at the end of the meeting. On May 8, he scored in a match with Marseille (1:2). The Italian scored his 15th goal in the current competition, breaking his personal best in goals for the season.

Career revival at Nice

On August 31, 2016, as a free agent, he moved to the French "Nice". The leadership of the French club convinced Liverpool to break the contract with the Italian. On September 2, Balotelli was introduced as a player for the Eagles. Mario became the highest paid player on the team. According to unofficial data, Balotelli's salary was 450 thousand euros per month.

On September 11, he made his debut in the championship in the match of the 4th round against Marseille (3:2), scoring two goals. First, the striker converted a penalty in the 7th minute of the meeting, and in the 78th minute closed the canopy of Ricardo Pereira. After the game he was named the best player of the meeting. On December 18, he scored a double in a match with Dijon (2:1). On February 19, 2017, he was sent off for two yellow cards in a match against Lorient (1:0). This was Balotelli's third removal this season.

Return to Liverpool

In the summer of 2016, Mario returned to Liverpool, where Jurgen Klopp worked. The German specialist said that while the fate of Balotelli has not been decided and he has a chance to prove his professional suitability. Nevertheless, the British media claimed that the leadership of the Merseysiders allegedly wants to get rid of the attacker and are ready to listen to proposals from China, Qatar or Turkey.