Why Always Me? - The Biography of Mario Balotelli, City's Legendary Striker. Frank Worrall
fans of the home team, in various sections of the stadium, sang songs which included racial discrimination. Juventus are therefore obliged to play one game behind closed doors.’
The statement, in conjunction with the Italian Soccer Federation, added that the abuse was ‘deplorable’ and could not be excused as sporting passion.
Balotelli was understandably upset and angered by the incident, but at least he had the satisfaction of knowing his goal had as good as knocked second placed Juve out of the title race. With just six games now remaining, Inter were 10 points clear of their bitter Turin rivals.
The Telegraph explained what had led to the racist outburst, saying, ‘He [Balotelli] angered home fans throughout the game, particularly for his role in the dismissal of Juve midfielder Tiago. Balotelli was playing keep ball on the touchline with Sulley Muntari, when Tiago let his frustrations get the better of him and kicked both of them, earning a straight red card. Balotelli, who fell down from Tiago’s fairly innocuous kick, earned the wrath of a small section of the home fans.’
Of course, Mario’s actions in no way excuse the reaction: racism in any shape or form in football is deplorable – as Marcello Nicchi, president of the Italian Referees’ Association (Aia), agreed at the time, ‘There are 16,000 matches played in Italy every weekend, we have to send out the right signals and educate the people,’ he said. ‘The racist chants directed at Balotelli are very serious; Uefa and Fifa are always talking about eliminating them. Referees don’t have the power to stop a match but they can report on the events to the right authorities.’
Fans in England got their first look at Balotelli in February 2009, when Mourinho lifted the suspension on the player and he came on as a sub in the Champions League first leg against Manchester United at the San Siro. The match ended 0-0 and Mario made little impact, having only 13 minutes to show his worth.
In the return leg at Old Trafford a month later – Mario’s first appearance in England – he started the match, lasting 70 minutes until he was replaced by veteran Luis Figo. United won 2-0 and both Balotelli and Mourinho would exit Manchester disappointed and frustrated. Mario had at least set up Ibrahimovic for what was arguably his team’s best first-half chance, but the Swede blew the ball wide of Edwin van der Sar’s goal. So it was United who went into the last eight of the Champions League – although Mourinho would have more luck the next season, the one in which Inter finally won the competition for the first time in its present format.
Mourinho praised the character of his team, including even Balotelli whom he had previously lambasted for a lack of application, and added, ‘United scored two goals over the course of the two games and we have to accept that, in football, the team that wins always deserves it but I don’t think we should be negative about my team’s display. We played a great match against a great team. We just lacked that little bit of luck you need to win, that little thing that makes that difference between winning and not winning.
‘We went one down after a couple of minutes but we had three chances to score in the first half, more than our opponents, and we hit the bar from 10ft out. In the second half we lost another goal but we continued to play and we showed great character.’
Mourinho sounded a little deflated but issued a rallying cry to Mario and his team-mates, telling them they would now at least go on to collect a fourth consecutive Serie A crown back in Italy. They were still top of the table, seven points clear of second-placed Juventus. ‘We have not been good enough to win the Champions League but we are good enough to win the Scudetto and I’m sure we will go on and win it,’ he said before leaving Manchester with his team.
The Portuguese was right about that – his team did go on to win the Italian league again (the first time under his tenure). Mario had, understandably, been low after the defeat in Manchester but celebrated with his team-mates after they confirmed their Serie A title triumph with a strolling 3-0 win over minnows Siena on 17 May, 2009. AC Milan had lost 2-1 away at Udinese the previous day to set the scene for Inter’s 17th Scudetto.
It was a day of personal triumph for Balotelli. He scored one and set one up for co-striker Ibrahimovic. Mario’s free kick was deflected after 43 minutes, falling in the path of Zlatan, who could hardly miss.
Balotelli then made it 2-0 on 51 minutes, taking the ball round Gianluca Curci before sliding it calmly inside the near post. Inter would eventually finish 10 points ahead of rivals AC.
The 2009/10 season would turn out to be the last at the club for Balotelli and Mourinho. Both would leave in the summer of 2010, with Jose heading for Real Madrid and Mario, of course, on his way to Manchester City and an emotional reunion with his mentor, Mancini.
Mario’s last season at the San Siro saw him make a further 39 appearances for Inter, with him grabbing a total of 11 goals in three competitions (Serie A, the Italian Cup and the Champions League). Predictably, given the natures of Mario and Jose, it was a season packed with incident, controversy and disputes between the two of them.
In November, Inter drew 1–1 against Roma and Mourinho lashed out verbally at Mario for his showing, saying he was ‘close to a zero rating’. Mirko Vucinic had put Roma ahead in the 13th minute but Samuel Eto’o – who had arrived at Inter from Barcelona in a swap deal that involved Ibrahimovic going in the opposite direction – earned his new team a point early in the second half. Balotelli had replaced Patrick Vieira at half-time.
The defeat left Inter five points behind second-placed Juventus and Mourinho moaned, ‘It has been an awful game from everyone. There was a team that was unable to win, another team that didn’t want to win and someone else [the referee] who made too many calls. I didn’t like the game. The only thing that I liked was the result. We took a point at home against a team that has quality like Roma and that is fine.’
But his view of Balotelli was far from fine. He rapped, ‘Balotelli? In my opinion he came close to a zero rating. I didn’t like how he played. He is 19 but could have done much better.’
They were hardly the sort of words that would endear him to Mario. The battle lines had now been drawn and Balotelli would continue to push Mourinho to the limit. The two endured an uneasy peace as the 2009/10 season wore on. At least Mourinho was one of the first to support Mario when he once again fell foul of abuse from the fans of Juventus (who had, of course, racially abused him the previous season).
Inter lost 2-1 to Juve in Turin on December 5, 2009. It was sparked off when Juve midfielder Felipe Melo elbowed Mario in the shoulder – with Mario falling on to the ground as if he had been shot. He held his face in apparent agony and was booked by an unimpressed referee. Melo, meanwhile, was sent off for a second yellow card. Mourinho refused to condemn Mario for his part in the blow-up.
But the duo were back at loggerheads when Inter travelled to Jose’s old club, Chelsea, for the second leg of their Champions League knockout clash in March, 2010. Mario did not travel to London after a fresh row with Mourinho, as The Guardian explained, ‘Inter – with whom he [Mourinho] claimed the domestic title last season – may top Serie A again, albeit by a solitary point, but the 47-year-old is enduring a relatively torrid time in Italy at present. Defeat at lowly Catania last Friday has allowed Milan to gain ground in the championship race, while Mourinho and his Italian striker Mario Balotelli were reportedly embroiled in a spat at training in Milan today which has resulted in the forward being omitted from the squad for disciplinary reasons. Carlo Ancelotti has since suggested he might seek to work with Balotelli at Chelsea.’
The latter never happened – but other Inter Milan players were now quick to criticise Mario. Inter captain Javier Zanetti said after Inter’s win at Chelsea, ‘We need everyone. If Balotelli saw the game, then he needs to realise how you stay in this team. If that’s the way he can feel important in the squad, then he can help us too.’
And Marco Materazzi also got in on the act, telling Sky Sport Italia: ‘He should send one [a message] to us instead and thank his team-mates who got him to the quarter-finals. If he wants to be a part of this group, we are happy because he is a really strong player, but if he wants to go somewhere else, the door is open. The president has already shown that he won’t