Mario Balotelli

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following important information is missing from this article or section:
Text editing has been discontinued.
Help Wikipedia by researching and pasting it .

Mario Balotelli
Mario Balotelli OM.jpg
Mario Balotelli (2019)
Personnel
Surname Mario Barwuah Balotelli
birthday August 12, 1990
place of birth Palermo ,  Italy
size 189 cm
position Storm
Juniors
Years station
2001-2005 AC Lumezzane
2006-2007 Inter Milan
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
2005-2006 AC Lumezzane 2 0(0)
2007-2010 Inter Milan 59 (20)
2010-2013 Manchester City 54 (20)
2013-2014 AC Milan 42 (26)
2014-2016 Liverpool FC 16 0(1)
2015-2016 → AC Milan (loan) 20 0(1)
2016-2019 OGC Nice 61 (33)
2019 Olympique Marseille 15 0(8)
2019– Brescia Calcio 16 0(5)
National team
Years selection Games (goals) 2
2008-2009 Italy U-21 16 0(6)
2010– Italy 36 (14)
1 Only league games are given.
Status: February 9, 2020

2 As of September 7, 2018

Mario Barwuah Balotelli (born August 12, 1990 in Palermo ) is an Italian football player . He is under contract with Brescia Calcio and plays for the Italian national team . Balotelli is considered a highly talented player, who, however, also often attracted attention for his lack of discipline.

Personal

Balotelli was born in 1990 as the son of Ghanaian immigrants in Palermo , the capital of the Italian Mediterranean island of Sicily . In 1993 he was entrusted to the Balotelli family from Concesio ( province of Brescia ), with whom he grew up. However, since he was not adopted , he was initially denied Italian citizenship . According to Italian law, he was not given the opportunity to obtain Italian citizenship until he was 18 years old. He took this opportunity, so that he has been an Italian citizen since August 13, 2008. His younger brother Enock Barwuah (* 1993) is an amateur soccer player.

Career

youth

From a small club in his neighborhood, Mario Balotelli moved to AC Lumezzane in 2001 . On April 2, 2006 he made his debut in the first team of Lumezzanesi in Serie C1 against Calcio Padova . Thanks to a special permit, he was able to play in Italian professional football before his 16th birthday, making him the youngest player to play in Serie C.

Inter Milan

Balotelli in the Inter Milan jersey in 2009

On August 31, 2006 Balotelli signed a three-year contract with Inter Milan . Here he was first used in the U-17 team, the Allievi Nazionali ; he also played for the Primavera team (U-20) . His good performance in the Nerazzurri youth department was praised by the club's management, especially by club president Massimo Moratti .

On December 16, 2007 Balotelli played for the first time in Serie A , the top Italian division. He played a total of 11 games there by the end of the season and scored 3 goals. In the following season, Balotelli initially had problems with the new Inter coach José Mourinho . Balotelli was deleted from the squad several times because he showed too little commitment in training. However, Balotelli was able to prevail as a regular player in the second half of the season, especially after the departure of Adriano . He scored eight goals in 22 league games.

Following the Champions League semifinals of the 2009/2010 season against FC Barcelona , Balotelli was given leave of absence by Inter-President Massimo Moratti because he had taken off his jersey after the game and demonstratively threw it on the ground. Two days later, before the semi-final second leg, Balotelli was pardoned after a public apology.

Manchester City

Balotelli (right) next to Arsenal player Alex Song (2012)

On August 13, 2010, Balotelli signed a five-year contract with the English first division club Manchester City a few days after his international debut for the Squadra Azzurra .

In the 2011/12 season Balotelli scored 13 goals in 23 league games. On April 9, 2012, coach Roberto Mancini announced after Balotelli's expulsion in the game against Arsenal that he would no longer line up and sell in the summer. The reason he cited the striker's continued lack of discipline. Despite Mancini's announcement, Balotelli came on for another match against Queens Park Rangers on the final day of the season when he was substituted on at 2-1 in the 75th minute. He prepared the decisive goal to 3-2, which eventually led to the championship of his team.

Since Balotelli was absent from eleven games due to various suspensions, the club fined him £ 340,000. Since he initially refused to pay this, the case should go to court in December 2012, but Balotelli withdrew his appeal against the fines beforehand. At the beginning of January 2013 there was a tussle between Balotelli and Mancini during training. In the English league and the Champions League, he only scored twice in the 2012/13 season until he moved to Milan.

Between Milan and Liverpool

On January 31, 2013 Balotelli moved back to Italy for AC Milan . He signed a contract that ran until June 30, 2017. In his first competitive game for Milan, the striker scored both goals for a 2-1 win over Udinese Calcio . In his first season he scored 12 goals in 13 games for AC Milan.

On August 25, 2014 Balotelli returned to the Premier League and moved to Liverpool FC . There he could not prevail with only one league goal and 16 appearances and returned to AC Milan on August 27, 2015. He received a loan contract that ran until the end of the 2015/16 season . He came on 20 Serie A appearances in which he scored one goal.

For the 2016/17 season , Balotelli initially returned to Liverpool and joined team training under coach Jürgen Klopp .

France

On August 31, 2016, Balotelli moved to the French first division club OGC Nice . He made his debut on September 11, the 4th matchday of the Ligue 1 season 2016/17 , when he scored two goals in a 3-2 home win over Olympique Marseille . Balotelli also scored twice in the second league game, a 4-0 win against leaders AS Monaco .

Balotelli did not appear at the start of the 2018/19 season in Nice. According to media reports, he was in negotiations with Olympique Marseille. The striker only played ten goalless league games.

On January 23, 2019, Olympique announced the completion of the transfer. Balotelli completed 15 league games by the end of the season and scored 8 goals. His contract ended on June 30, 2019.

In the national team

Since Mario Balotelli was not allowed to apply for an Italian passport as a minor, he could not accept several invitations for the U-15 and U-17 national teams of Italy.

On August 7, 2007, he received an invitation to the Ghanaian national team for the first time for a friendly game in London's New Den Stadium against the Senegalese selection . He declined this invitation because he later wanted to play for the Italian association after he was naturalized . Balotelli has been an Italian citizen since August 2008 and is therefore eligible to play for the national team.

In his first game for the Italian U-21 national team on September 5, 2008 under Pierluigi Casiraghi , Mario Balotelli scored against Greece .

In 2009 he was in the squad of the Italian U-21 selection for the U-21 European Championship in Sweden . On June 19, he scored the 0-1 goal in the second group match against the hosts , after which he was sent red because of a foul by French referee Tony Chapron . The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body suspended Mario Balotelli for a game. In the semifinals, the Azzurrini failed against eventual tournament winner Germany .

On August 6, 2010 Balotelli was appointed to the squad of the Italian senior team for the international match against Ivory Coast on August 10, 2010. Balotelli was in the starting lineup of the Squadra Azzurra .

Balotelli (right) at the EM 2012 in a running duel with Ashley Cole

After seeing the red card in 2011 for a rude foul in the Europa League against Dynamo Kiev , he was not nominated for the Italians' European Championship qualifier against Slovenia due to unsportsmanlike conduct and was put on the bench for the subsequent Premier League game.

He took part in the 2012 European Football Championship with the Italian selection . He scored the 2-0 in the group game against Ireland and in the semifinals against Germany, both goals for Italy. A year later, Italy finished third in the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil .

2014 Balotelli was one of Cesare Prandelli levy of the Squadra Azzurra for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and was all over the World Cup regulars. He scored the winning goal to make it 2-1 against England in the first group game. After the game, he was voted Man of the Match . In the second game against Costa Rica Balotelli missed a great chance to score, the game ended in defeat. The defeat against Uruguay in the third group match meant the World Cup for Italy. Under the new coach Antonio Conte , Balotelli was appointed only once in November 2014. However, he could not run up because he was injured. After a bad season with Milan, he was not included in the 2016 European Championship squad.

In May 2018 he made his comeback in the international match against Saudi Arabia in the debut of national coach Roberto Mancini . He scored the 1-0 in the 2-1 win after 21 minutes. In June and September 2018, Balotelli was deployed two more times, but was subsequently not nominated.

Style of play and image

Balotelli is a technically very strong, powerful and nevertheless fast player. His strengths include scoring goals and free kicks. Balotelli is criticized for his very changeable commitment and willingness to run and the associated lack of teamwork. One can often read that Balotelli is a talented player who does not use enough of his potential. The phrase "between genius and madness" is sometimes used to exaggerate Balotelli's way of playing.

In the media and fan circles he is often called " Super Mario ". On and off the field, however, Balotelli repeatedly got into negative headlines, especially during his time in England, which earned him a reputation as an undisciplined and unadjusted player.

Balotelli has often been a victim of racial discrimination. For example, there were racist chants and insults from fans of Juventus Turin . Even Paolo Berlusconi , then Vice President of AC Milan, berated him. His reactions to such abuse were sometimes emotional. In an interview with the French football magazine France Football before the European Football Championship 2012, he said: "If someone throws a banana at me in the street, I will have to go to prison because I will kill him." According to information from Michael Küppers-Adebisi was the gesture that the German-speaking media misunderstood as a bodybuilding pose that Balotelli showed after scoring a goal against Germany during the 2012 European Football Championship, a reaction to suffered disadvantages and was intended to symbolize a person with the shackles of slavery broken.

He was also racially insulted several times during his comeback to the Italian national team. Even before that, Balotelli used his popularity on social media more and more often to fight racism in sport and to show solidarity with other athletes.

successes

In the club

In the national team

Personal awards

additional

At the Kerrang Music Prize ! Awards 2012 Balotelli was nominated in the category "Hero of the Year". However, Rou Reynolds was awarded by Enter Shikari .

Balotelli has a daughter, which was confirmed by a paternity test in February 2014.

Web links

Commons : Mario Balotelli  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files
  • Mario Balotelli in the database of weltfussball.de
  • Mario Balotelli , profile on the homepage of the Italian national team (Italian)
  • Mario Balotelli , international match statistics on the website of the Italian Football Association (Italian)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Mario Barwuah Balotelli , goal.com (English)
  2. ↑ Tobias Rabe: Highly talented and unpredictable FAZ.net, June 1, 2012, accessed on June 16, 2013.
  3. ↑ Italian citizenship ( Memento of January 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ), Comune di Torino of January 11, 2009 (English)
  4. ↑ Biography on the player's homepage ( Memento from February 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
  5. ^ Moratti: Who needs Pato? ( Memento of March 2, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Channel 4 , August 19, 2007 (English)
  6. ^ Mourinho gets tough with Balotelli. FIFA.com , January 12, 2009 (English).
  7. ↑ Balotelli before the end. Kicker online , April 23, 2010.
  8. ^ Balotelli pardoned again. Sport1 , April 28, 2010.
  9. ↑ Tim Oscroft: Balotelli signs for City. Manchester City , August 13, 2010 (English).
  10. ↑ Balotelli has played out Frankfurter Rundschau online, April 10, 2012, accessed on February 20, 2013
  11. ↑ Match report Manchester City - Queens Park Rangers , kicker online (accessed on June 9, 2012)
  12. ↑ Scandal striker: Balotelli takes ManCity to court Spiegel online, December 17, 2012, accessed on February 20, 2013
  13. ↑ ManCity-Training: Fighting between Balotelli and Mancini Spiegel online, January 3, 2013, accessed on February 20, 2013
  14. ↑ Balotelli leaves City for AC Milan , mcfc.co.uk of January 31, 2013
  15. ^ Fan riot at Balotelli's arrival in Milan Die Welt, January 31, 2013. Accessed February 27, 2013
  16. ↑ see the confirmation ( memento of October 16, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) from AC Milan of January 31, 2013.
  17. ^ Reds complete Mario Balotelli deal , liverpoolfc.com, August 25, 2014
  18. ^ AC Milan: OFFICIAL: BALO ON LOAN , August 27, 2015, accessed on August 27, 2015.
  19. ↑ Balotelli is back in Liverpool , kleinezeitung.at, July 4, 2016, accessed on July 4, 2016.
  20. ↑ Fix! Balotelli to Favres Nice. In: sport1.de. Sport1 GmbH, August 31, 2016, accessed on September 22, 2016 .
  21. ↑ Mario Balotelli absent as Nice begin preseason training under Patrick Vieira. In: ESPN.com . ESPN Inc., July 2, 2017, accessed July 10, 2017 .
  22. ↑ Nice coach Patrick Vieira on Mario Balotelli: "Surprised and disappointed". In: Goal.com . PERFORM Media, July 9, 2017, accessed July 10, 2017 .
  23. ^ OM: Balotelli a quitté le center d'entraînement. In: BFMTV Sport. BFM TV , July 8, 2018, accessed July 10, 2018 (French).
  24. ↑ Mario Balotelli est olympies , om.net, accessed on January 23, 2019 (French)
  25. ↑ Michele Novaga: Un prodigio ma non è azzurro. ( Memento of September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Left Avvenimenti , December 8, 2006 (Italian).
  26. ↑ http://www.ghanafa.org/blackstars/200708/2129.php ( Memento from April 14, 2013 in the web archive archive.today )
  27. ↑ Sammy Heywood Okine: Stars to tame the lions today ( Memento from June 29, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), The Statesman from August 21, 2007 (English)
  28. ↑ Balotelli is missing against Belarus. UEFA.com , June 22, 2009.
  29. ^ L'Italia di Prandelli: 8 novità. Italian Football Association, August 6, 2010, archived from the original on October 28, 2013 ; Retrieved August 6, 2010 (Italian).
  30. ↑ Prandelli leaves Rambo footballer at home , Kicker online from March 22, 2011
  31. ↑ Balotelli: Mancini believes in improvement , Kicker online from April 1, 2011
  32. ↑ [1] , FIFA.com, accessed June 30, 2014
  33. ↑ OFFICIAL: Italy squad for Euro 2016. Football Italia, May 31, 2016, accessed May 31, 2016 .
  34. ^ Italy - Saudi Arabia. Match report on kicker.de . Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  35. ↑ Michael Anderson: Mario Balotelli's award inflates his ego . bettor.com. December 20, 2010. Archived from the original on December 29, 2010. Retrieved on February 24, 2011.
  36. ↑ Leo Spall: Super Mario Balotelli can win title for Manchester City , Daily Mail, July 29, 2010
  37. ↑ a b Ian Chadband: Super Mario Balotelli's cartoon capers worth hassle for Manchester City , the Daily Telegraph on July 27, 2010
  38. ↑ Glenn Moore: Can Balotelli silence the racist taunts? . In: The Independent , December 11, 2009. Retrieved May 12, 2010. 
  39. ↑ Dominik Bardow: Balotelli, between genius and madness Der Tagesspiegel, June 30, 2012
  40. ↑ Mario Balotelli's double life: The bitter family feud that haunts the £ 29m Manchester City target , Dailymail of August 5, 2010 (English)
  41. ↑ Racist choirs against inter-young star Balotelli , Der Standard from April 20, 2009
  42. ↑ Tom Mustroph: Balotelli, the enemy image number one - football and racism , Frankfurter Allgemeine from January 9, 2010
  43. ↑ Racism at the European Football Championship: Croats threw bananas at Balotelli , Focus Online , from June 15, 2012
  44. ^ AC Milan: Berlusconi brother insults Balotelli Spiegel online from February 6, 2013, accessed on May 23, 2013
  45. ↑ Balotelli threatens racists with retaliation , Spiegel online from May 30, 2012
  46. ↑ Post by AFROTAKTVcyberNomads on YouTube , accessed on January 6, 2013
  47. ↑ Balotelli against racism: "You are the sick side". Article on faz.net . Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  48. ↑ Kerrang : And the nominees are ...
  49. ↑ Proof by DNA test: Mario Balotelli is Papa Spiegel Online, February 7, 2014, accessed on February 7, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Balotelli, Mario
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Balotelli, Mario Barwuah (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Italian-Ghanaian soccer player
DATE OF BIRTH August 12, 1990
PLACE OF BIRTH Palermo , Italy