HAS JOKER MARIO TURNED SERIOUS?
Hitman Balotelli on a mission to prove that he’s no joker
AFTER MARIO Balotelli scored two stunning goals in the semifinal of the 2012 European Championship against Germany, a member of staff at his club Manchester City offered a startlingly frank opinion.
‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘He will still be useless when he comes back to us.’
Two summers and a change of club later, questions remain.
Balotelli is an AC Milan player now and 16 goals last season was a reasonable effort. Already in this World Cup he has made a telling contribution with his winning goal against England in Manaus on Saturday.
But the general view in Italy is that his all-round play over the last nine months has been modest.
Here in Brazil, opportunity beckons once again for Balotelli to further his quest to be taken seriously. Against England he delivered but whether he can repeat that performance against Costa Rica here today remains to be seen.
There is a theory in Italy — as there was at City — that Balotelli simply cannot get his blood up for the smaller games.
Yesterday Italian coach Cesare Prandelli said: ‘If you look at our four years with Mario there were times when he was our weapon, the asset, the man who would take us to the moon.
‘Then, after two months, he wasn’t performing. Many people thought he would not even make it to the World Cup. If he is focused for 90 minutes, great.’
A coach who does not believe in indulging players, he told Balotelli on his return to Serie A that his behaviour must improve. Certainly Balotelli plays for his country largely because of a lack of viable alternatives. There is a dearth of genuine, world- class centre forwards in Italy. The days of Alessandro del Piero and Christian Vieri are long gone.
Many in the country still view Balotelli as a sideshow. A paternity dispute with ex-girlfriend Raffaella Fico only ended when a DNA test showed positive in February.
And an immaturity that proved too much even for his father figure Roberto Mancini at City surfaced during a remarkable TV interview after a defeat to Roma in April.
Asked by pundit Giancarlo Marocchi — a former Italian midfielder — why he hadn’t tried harder, Balotelli said: ‘You don’t know anything about football’ and threw down the microphone.
It is far from certain that he will remain at Milan. Linked with Arsenal, his flamboyant agent Mino Raiola has refused to rule out a move.
At City, the view was always that Balotelli would never prosper unless he was encouraged to feel that he was the only player who really mattered.
With Italy, he certainly seems to respond to the fact that Prandelli plays him as his only central striker.
Yesterday, Balotelli said: ‘I hope it’s not Mario’s World Cup but Italy’s.
‘I hope to give a good contribution to the team but I’m not interested in being the great star. I want our team to win.’