Andrew McCarten
Mario Balotelli has accomplished quite a lot in his short professional career, of that there can be no question. The striker made his debut for Italian C1 side Lumezzane at just 15 years old, and broke into the Inter Milan team just two years later, picking up three consecutive Serie A titles, as well as a Champions League medal. Despite not being a constant starter, and struggling with injuries and disciplinary problems, Balotelli still managed to score 20 goals during his last two years in Milan, and also earned senior honours for the Italian national side, having dealt with persistent racism from opposing fans ever since becoming an Inter regular.
And Balotelli started life away from Inter in fine fashion too, after a protracted transfer saga, a big-money deal saw him head to Eastlands to join Manchester City, and he scored the winner on his debut against Romanian outfit Timiosora in the Europa League.
However, controversy has never been far away from the brilliant youngster; heavily publicised feuds with former manager Jose Mourinho, Inter fans, and even his own team-mates, as well as a string of incidents and controversial quotes show the striker’s immaturity and petulance.
A perfect example came with his sending off when he scored his first two Premier League goals against West Brom. Balotelli also saw red in similar fashion in a Under-21 European Championship match against Sweden. minutes after he had scored a spectacular goal to give the Italians first blood – clearly showing his amazing skill contradicted a volatile temperament.
Balotelli has searing pace, seemingly endless stamina, sublime close control, and a thumping shot that also makes him a threat from set pieces. At just 20, the former Inter man already has all the tools to become the world’s best striker. Yet despite all this talent, Balotelli has only played in 11 Premier League matches this year for City due to suspensions and injuries, scoring six goals in the process; the striker has also notched two in the Europa League and one in the FA Cup – but more has been expected from the expensive frontman, who has made only 14 appearances for City overall.
In that time, Balotelli has had more red cards than assists, and his most recent sending off, in City’s crucial Europa League second leg match against Dynamo Kyiv, brings to light more worrying similarities with another Italian love/hate figure – Antonio Cassano.
Cassano is just eight years Balotelli’s senior, but his antics and issues have already proved numerous enough for that of many footballers’ entire careers. The Bari-born forward sealed a €30M move to Roma from AS Bari in 2001 at 19 years old, and was hailed as the prospect of a generation; Italy’s next great goalscorer.
But there was no place for Cassano on the Azzurri plane to the 2002 World Cup, and Italy’s 2006 triumph was the same story. After falling out with Fabio Capello and a host of other managers at Roma, the forward was at times completely excluded from first team activities; Cassano’s Roma spell was surprisingly ended when Real Madrid paid €5M for his services in January 2006, a fee so low it told a story of underachievement and disciplinary problems all by itself.
After scoring on his debut, Cassano managed just one more goal for Los Blancos, and eventually left after making few friends in the Spanish capital due to his perceived laziness, and excessive weight gain. A move to Sampdoria saw the forward’s career revitalised over the past few seasons, with brilliant goals and assists the norm, but with his fair share of red cards and altercations too.
Sampdoria finally had enough, and the troubled forward joined AC Milan in the winter transfer window, where 11 appearances in Serie A have brought just two goals, and a tough task to break into the team with Robinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Alexandre Pato, and Filippo Inzaghi all in contention. Cassano is blessed with extreme talent, but has never been able to firmly pull himself together and become one of the best forwards in the world, or an Azzurri legend. Indeed, the ex-Roma man has cost himself perhaps the best years of his career pursuing various grievances, real or imagined. And while all of the promise produced some memorable moments, he will be more remembered for what he did without the ball at his feet than what he did with it.
Balotelli seems to be precariously edging down the same path, and despite City manager Roberto Mancini’s best efforts, does not appear to have matured at all, with the Italian manager branding his latest bad challenge in the Kyiv match “stupid.”
The solution however, does not seem to be clear. Mancini has tried to coddle Balotelli, but it has also become obvious in the past few years that “tough love” seems to discourage the young talent and make him more apt to be defiant. Mancini may or may not have the man-management skills to get the best out of his expensive player, and there is every chance the striker’s career will head down the same path as Cassano’s.
Balotelli is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world already based on pure ability, and Italian daily Tuttosport agreed by voting him best young player of the year, awarding him the Golden Boy trophy. But it will take some growing up and anger management for the Italian to reach the meteoric heights that are surely possible. Otherwise, a story marked with underachievement a la Cassano surely awaits.
