Friday 14 September 2012

Why Always Him?

You may like him or hate him but you can never ever ignore him. He is one of the best things to have ever happened to football (or maybe one of the worst things). He is one of that unpredictable social animals that sometimes may irritate you and other times may well entertain you. We are talking about 'Super Mario' i.e Mario Barwuah Balotelli. According to Zodiac, he is a Leo and he definitely compliments all the character traits a Leo is thought to possess. He is ambitious, courageous, strong willed, positive, independent, self-confident. But where there is good, there is a bad & that's one of the reasons, he is 'Controversial' as well. That's why he finds (or maybe gets) himself into some awkward situations and that's when he asks "Why Always Me?". Well, Mario! Some questions in life can not be answered and this question is one of them.

Mario was born on 12 August 1990 in Palermo, Sicily. He was born to Christian Ghanaian immigrants Thomas and Rose Barwuah. Just when he was viewing the world in wonder with his new little pair of eyes, he had to face some serious life-threatening medical complications. Due to them, he had to undergo the knife quite a few times. In 1992, his condition improved and it showed how tough he was from inside since his birth. Facing some severe financial problems and depressed with their young one's health, Mario's parents decided to entrust him to an Italian foster family, the Balotellis. That's where he got his cool last name from. Anway, What's in a name? He had to wait for his 18th birthday to become a citizen of the country where he lived all his life. As far as his football life is concerned, at the mere age of 15, he got into the first team of then the Serie C1 team Lumezzane. The turning point of his fascinating life came in 2006 when Italian Giant Internazianole (sweetly known as Inter Milan) signed him (obviously on the basis of his extraordinary 'football' talent). When Mario came into limelight and was tasting the early stage of his fame, his biological parents asked for his return which irked Mario who later accused them as 'Glory Hunters' (just like Liverpool F.C. fans - just joking!)

He made his first team debut for Inter on 16 December 2007 and had a great debut season as he was able to impress one and all with his classy football skills. The match that helped him gain prominence was one against Juventus in which he scored two lovely goals. Icing on the cake was that Inter won the 2007-08 season. Shining high, Balotelli, in November 2008, became the youngest Inter player to score in a Champions League Match. The other side of Mario Balotelli started showing up in just his second season with Inter where he had numerous disciplinary problems. Besides his self-created (not always intentional) issues, Balotelli was also the target of many Juventus fans who quite often racially abused him. Encounter with fans, players, officials was become Balotelli's forte in Inter. The most sad part of his Inter career or rather his football career as yet would be Jose Mourinho calling him as 'unmanageable'. If the best manager in the world calls you that, you know some things need to be mended. The carefree Mario created another scene as he was spotted wearing A.C.Milan's jersey in a National T.V.Show.



Due to his antics and infinite controversies, Inter decided to sell him and it was Manchester City who signed up him exactly on his 20th birthday. Manchester City boss, Roberto Mancini expressed to the media that he is the next big thing in football and Premier League will be the best platform for his success. In a way, that was true but playing in English Premier League would mean more followers, more coverage, more exposure and all this helped him in showing his other side more than his talent. Just after 2 weeks since joining Manchester City, Balotelli got involved in a car crash and he was found with around 5000 GBP and on being inquired by the police about the reason, he kept calm and replied, "Because I'm rich." In one instance, Super Mario made a Manchester Sixth Form college very famous by stopping at it because he wanted to use the toilet. In a similar kind of event, he visited a Women's prison in Italy to just have a look around. In October 2011, electrifying Balotelli's home was set on fire due to a firework that was let off in it. The follow-up of this incident was totally ironic because a week later Mr. Mario was unveiled as the brand ambassador of Firework Safety Department of Great Manchester. As far as money is concerned, he seriously needs a London Business School Graduate as his Accounts Manager as Mr. Mario has lost a lot of money in gamblings etc., and even Mario is a proud (or not so proud) holder of a record as he spent around 4000 GBP in just one night at a bar in Ibiza. Balotelli's performances as far as the technical department is concerned were above par but his over-aggression and involvement in awkward incidents overshadowed his real technical traits.


Just 22 right now, Mario Balotelli has a long way to go. He didn't have that easy a childhood one deserves to have but that's how it was to be. With his talent, he can inspire one and all - he just needs to do things in a certain way. He does some strange things (even he admits that) but as far as those things are legal, not-offending, socially acceptable - then it is fine otherwise he will be just another footballer though he is capable of being the best if not one of the best footballers ever. Even if he is helpless with his antics, he can at least try to not be indulge in things and incidents which will affect his career.


No comments:

Post a Comment