Being Mario Balotelli
Eventually, Italians must thank Mario Balotelli; with two goals of Manchester City's striker Mario Balotelli, Italian soccer team defeated the Germans and will face Spain in Kiev for the final match Sunday.
Mario Balotelli is one the greatest player of his generation. Even the French newspaper Libération admitted that in a quiz on its website called “Do you know Mario Balotelli?” (“Connaissez-vous Mario Balotelli, le footballeur le plus fou de sa génération?”)
An Envy Nation
In Italy the most played game is the envy, badly. Before the beginning of the Euro 2012 adventure Mario has been subject of several criticism, mainly for his behavior off the pitch.
But who really care about his behavior off the pitch?
Rightly he reacted, as James Horncastle wrote on his website, when he scored his first goal against the Republic of Ireland «he got up off the floor and didn’t celebrate as usual (and he) chose to vent the frustration that had obviously been raging within. Before he could say anything he might regret, however, defender Leonardo Bonucci showed the presence of mind to place a hand over his teammate’s mouth and avoid a diplomatic incident.»
Why Always Me?
The newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport published a cartoon of Mario Balotelli by drawer Valerio Marini as King Kong right the day of the match against England.
As reported on Guardian «It led to a number of complaints from readers prompting the newspaper to apologise.»
The Nutella Treatment
During press conference before the game with German team, Mario Balotelli approached Italian always-very-judgemental journalists saying «I’ve never had problems off the pitch, not even when I didn’t score. I didn’t have as some journalist put it ‘my arse in the nutella’.»
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