Читать книгу Why Always Me? - The Biography of Mario Balotelli, City's Legendary Striker - Frank Worrall - Страница 10

He was still 15 when he joined Inter Milan on loan from Lumezzane – and it was a move of considerable impact for a boy of such a tender age. He was moving almost 60 miles away from home and would go straight into Inter’s famed youth development programme at the club’s training campus.

With other youngsters he would learn about the game from Inter’s technical staff and live away in sleeping quarters at the complex. It was a case of having to get over any homesickness and getting on with the job – however painful it may have been.

Luckily, each day would be structured and busy, so the minds of the youngsters were occupied and not drifting off with thoughts of home. Mario settled in well; of course he didn’t enjoy being away from home, but he was absolutely determined to make it as a footballer – whatever the personal cost.

He had already come a long way from being adopted to battling through illness and racist issues. He was a tough lad and he was well liked at the Inter training complex. But even at Inter, he could not completely hide his rebellious streak.

If something irked him, the coaches would know. He wasn’t a boy who just kept quiet and stayed in the shadows! Inter’s junior coach Vincenzo Esposito would recall one particular instance of the famed Balotelli stubbornness. ‘The day before an important match we stressed to the players the importance of good preparation,’ Esposito said. ‘Mario went straight off, bought a huge ice-cream and licked it before my very eyes.’ The coaches concede that Mario got away with things that some other kids might not have. He was likeable – and he could score goals. ‘It’s the old thing of being able to charm and not get a bollocking – basically because you are good at your job,’ I was told. ‘That was the thing with Mario – he might have been a bit of a rebel at times, but he did the business on the field. You could always rely upon him to pull a goal or two out of the hat just when you needed him to.’

Certainly, making it through the Inter youth programme into the first team squad is no walk in the park. Current Inter youth coach Stefano Bellinzagh recently gave an insight into life at the youth development centre, Interello, where youngsters learn and live.

When asked what characteristics he and the other staff at Interello look for when taking on youngsters, he said, ‘During the selection process we first look at three basic main characteristics: technical ability, strength and physical build, and good motor skills. A fourth element and in a way the most important is personality.

‘Even at the youth level within a professional club, there are lots of expectations, and young players face a lot of pressures. We choose those players with strong personality traits like leadership and self-confidence, which we think will allow them to deal with pressure situations as they present themselves. Preparation broadens to include game tactics: team systems (man, zone, and mixed zone), and positional play.’

As for Interello itself, it is a dream for a young footballer but could also be a daunting prospect such is the scale, size and ambition of the place. Soccer Magazine Online described it thus, ‘Interello is the technical training centre of Inter Milan youth teams. Interello is situated on 30,000 square metres of land and has three regulation grass soccer fields, two earth soccer fields, two seven aside soccer fields, two gyms, two medical rooms, six changing rooms, and sleeping quarters for players living there.’

Mario took it all in his stride when he worked his way up through the youth ranks at the San Siro. Outwardly confident and determined (as they liked to see the youngsters at Interello), he seemed a strong personality. A leader and a star in the making. Of course, the youth coaches did not know the full story – how much he had had to struggle to get there and how that outward strength, some would even call it arrogance even back then, actually masked an inner insecurity and vulnerability.

But the coaches liked what they saw and sensed they had a genius on their hands.

Mario also had the benefit of being spotted by the club’s manager, none other than Roberto Mancini. The boss told his coaches to bring the boy through gently – that he had great potential, but that he would have to be nurtured and encouraged. The big stick would not work with a boy who clearly did not like being dictated to or bullied.

Mario’s impact was immediate. He scored goals galore for the juniors and his technique and talent was beyond question. He passed every test and every trial. So it was no surprise when a year later Inter decided he was good enough. When they had initially taken him on loan, they had paid Lumezzane 150,000 euros and now they paid a further 190,000 euros to buy him outright.

He had cost Internazionale a total of 340,000 euros – roughly £230,000. For that they had got a player who would three years later go to Manchester City for a fee of around £23million – not a bad profit and certainly one of the best ever achieved by the Milan outfit.

Not that everyone was pleased by the initial deal that took him from Lumezzane to Milan. The website, theoffside.com, explained in 2008, ‘One person who is not on the jovial side [with the final buy-out of Balotelli] is Lumezzane president Renzo Cavagna. Fiorentina and Inter both tried to sign the young phenom, but the Nerazzurri beat out the Viola and added Balotelli to their youth ranks, first on loan, and then signing him on a nominal fee. Balotelli was promoted to the Primavera squad as a 16-year-old, and led Inter to a Scudetto victory. Cavagna is angry because he was not invited to the [victory] ceremony. He also said he has contacted Moratti [Inter chairman] saying that Inter should have given a little more “help” to Lumezzane for the work they did discovering the striker in 2001 and allowing him to grow into the player he is. Moratti never responded to Cavagna – and Cavagna said that they did not even offer his club one Inter Primavera player on loan.’

The war of words did not affect Mario. He now simply got on with the job in hand – namely to ensure that he progressed swiftly and impressively through the youth ranks and on to the first team squad. As long-time Balotelli fan and observer Michael Crigliano explains on YouTube, ‘He [Mario] showed his potential in their under-17 squad, known as the Allievi Nazionali, then joined the Primavera under-20 team at the age of 16, quickly becoming a key player.

‘He scored a tie-breaking penalty in a Primavera league final 1-0 win over Sampdoria. These performances prompted high praise from several high-ranking people including Inter chairman Massimo Moratti.’

So it was no big surprise that he was fast-tracked to the first team squad. Six months after signing him full-time – and still aged just 17 – Inter decided he was good enough and big enough to withstand the physical and mental rigours of Serie A. Mario had realised his dream. Not only was he in the first team squad, but he had impressed boss Mancini so much that he made his first team debut.

OK, it was only a cameo appearance but it demonstrated the faith that Mancini (and Moratti) had in the boy wonder that he was brought on at all. Mario appeared in the 90th minute of the match at Cagliari with Inter Milan already leading by two goals to nil. Wearing his now famed No 45 shirt, Balotelli replaced Honduran international David Suazo.

He made a few deft touches but did not really have enough time to make any major impact. But getting a touch of the first team and playing alongside stars such as Maicon, Esteban Cambiasso and Walter Samuel certainly helped his confidence and development. The victory was hardly unexpected – Inter went into the match as Serie A leaders while their hapless hosts were rooted at the bottom.

ESPN summed up the result, saying, ‘Internazionale extended their lead at the top of Serie A to seven points after two second-half goals helped them see off plucky Cagliari. The visitors were unable to find a way through in the first half, but took the lead after 57 minutes through Julio Cruz before former Cagliari striker David Suazo finished off his old side 11 minutes from time. The win saw Inter capitalise on Roma’s goalless draw with Torino, while Cagliari remained rooted to the bottom of the table following a third consecutive league defeat.’

When asked about Balotelli later, Mancini declared himself ‘pleased’ and added, ‘He is a boy with a lot of promise and I was glad to be able to introduce him gently. You will be hearing a lot more about him – he has a big future.’

That last bit would certainly prove to be correct – by 2012 Balotelli would arguably be one of the five most famous players on the planet!

‘Mario himself was pleased to have got on the pitch and made his debut,’ I was told by an Internazionale source. ‘This is what he had dreamed of all those years ago and what he had worked towards. Many people see him as a loose cannon but I can tell you that he has always been very focused and determined to get what he wants. He is not as maverick as you might believe.’

Just a few days later Mario truly marked his arrival on the scene by scoring twice as Inter won 4-1 at Reggina in the Italian Cup. Now he had really come of age. He wore the No 44 shirt for the match and shared Man of the Match honours with co-striker Hernan Crespo who would, of course, later in his career play for Chelsea.

Inter’s own website, www.inter.it.com, talked excitedly of the impact made by Mario on his first team full debut, ‘Inter’s road to a fourth consecutive Tim Cup final began with a 4-1 victory over Reggina at the Stadio Granillo. Hernan Crespo opened the scoring early on, with Mario Balotelli adding a second on the half hour. Leonardo Pettinari halved Inter’s lead shortly after half time, but Santiago Solari capped a fine performance to restore the two-goal advantage.

‘Balotelli completed the rout in the closing stages with his second of the game to make it a full debut to remember. Roberto Mancini fielded a mixture of experience and youth in Reggio Calabria, handing starting debuts to Inter Primavera pair Fatic and Balotelli in a 4-4-2 formation that included Rivas and Pelé, and bringing on Puccio, Maaroufi and Napoli in the second half.’

It certainly was ‘a full debut to remember’ for Mancini’s protégé. Two goals and praise galore – with Mancini patting him on the back as he came off the pitch and later describing his display as ‘superb’. Mancini was no late convert to the Balotelli cause – he had been convinced since he first watched him as a 15-year-old in the Inter youth team that the boy would go on to great things and he was also convinced that Mario would deliver the goods for him.

The first instalment of that expected payback had come early – on his full debut. ‘Mario was buzzing after the game,’ I was told. ‘He enjoyed the acclaim after scoring the two goals and now just wanted it all to continue. He wished the match hadn’t ended – he wanted to carry on playing!’

But it would be two goals he scored in the next round of the Italian Cup that would really propel him into the national consciousness. Mario was on target against the mighty Juventus as Inter went on to win 3-2 in Turin to book their place in the semi-finals.

The date was 8 January, 2008, and the Italian papers and blogs led almost as one with the headline ‘A Star Is Born’. The first leg at the San Siro had ended 2-2 and Mancini decided Mario would be his secret weapon in the return, choosing him ahead of David Suazo.

Many pundits believed Mancini would now approach the tie cautiously but he surprised them by sending out Balotelli in an attacking line-up. Soccerlens journalist Marco Pantanella highlighted the belief that Mario was set for greatness with his piece on the 3-2 win. He said that, yes, a star had been born and added, ‘His name is Mario. Born in Palermo in August 1990 from Ghanaian parents, he is officially adopted by the Balotellis…His height is 1m 89, his weight 88kg, his touch and technique already reminiscent of the greats of football history. On Wednesday this week, he officially became the Inter Milan hero when the Nerazzurri knocked Juventus out of the Coppa Italia, thanks to two goals by the young striker and a penalty shot by Cruz. Some might say he is Inter’s response to a certain young Brazilian recently acquired by AC Milan, but Mario Balotelli is unique in his own way and this week, has proven that your name doesn’t have to be Alexandre Pato for everyone to say “A Star is Born in Milan”…

‘It must be a real relief for Roberto Mancini, to know that if (for some obscure impossible science-fiction-like reason) Zlatan Ibrahimovic were to stop scoring all these goals for Inter, there’s someone on the bench ready to step in. And shine very very brightly, if only you give him a chance…’

The goals that made the Italian football nation sit up came in the 10th and 53rd minutes. For the first, Mario beat a defender and hammered the ball home, his powerful physique paying off. For the second, he took the ball with his back to the goal, turned and powered it home. It was a terrific strike, earning him the adulation of his team-mates as they mobbed him in admiration.

The official Inter website was also very complimentary about the two goals, saying, ‘Inter edged Juventus 3-2 in a pulsating clash at the Stadio Olimpico to complete a 5-4 aggregate victory and set up a Coppa Italia semi-final meeting with Lazio. Inter Primavera’s 17-year-old striker Mario Balotelli gave the Nerazzurri a dream start to the third “derby d’Italia” of the season, controlling Maniche’s ball into the box and shrugging off a challenge from Birindelli before sidefooting past Belardi for his third goal in the competition…

‘Inter were back in front in the 54th minute when “Super-mario” Balotelli collected Stankovic’s ball into the area, swivelled and thrashed his shot into the top right corner.’

Mario Balotelli was 17 years old and wasn’t just making ripples – no, he was arriving on the scene like a juggernaut. He was big and confident and refused to be jostled off the ball by the equally big but far more cynical defenders that Italy is famed for. He was a boy in a man’s body – a tough, physically imposing man. In that sense, he reminded many pundits in Italy at the time of Cristiano Ronaldo, who shares his physical attributes and eye for goal.

Naturally enough, Mario’s first goal in Serie A would soon follow. It came in April 2008 in the 2–0 away win at Atalanta. By now he was back wearing his favoured No 45 shirt and he was breathing down the necks of the established strikers at the club. Crespo, in particular, appeared put out that Mancini was pushing the young Balotelli into the team whenever he could.

It was Crespo who would start up front with Balotelli, but the Argentinean made it clear he thought his fellow countryman Julio Cruz should have been his attacking partner. In the second half Mancini would substitute Cruz for Crespo, much to the latter’s obvious discontent.

Not that that worried Roberto one bit: he was a man and a manager well aware of how players could act up…after all, he had certainly done enough of that himself in his own playing days! He was oblivious to Crespo’s emotions – all that mattered was getting the result and if that meant Mario was the man who would help achieve that better than Cruz, then so be it.

And Roberto would be vindicated as Balotelli once again took the accolades. He set up the first goal for Patrick Vieira and then scored the second himself. But even Mario was not excluded from Mancini’s tunnel vision approach to winning. Seven minutes from time Roberto decided Mario was tiring and even subbed him, bringing on Luis Figo in his place!

The win meant Inter remained four points clear of Roma at the top of the league with 72 points – and now looked firm favourites to take the title.

The appropriately-named Italian football journalist Anna Italia, of Italian Soccer Serie A blog, pointed out the match proved once again that Balotelli was becoming undroppable in the Inter side – and that his star was rising with each game under his belt. Anna said, ‘It was an intense match. Yet, it took Inter 20 minutes to break Atalanta’s defence. In the 21st minute, 17 years old striker Mario Balotelli makes an assist to midfielder Patrick Vieira who heads from the centre of the box to the very top right corner. It was interesting to see the “silent reaction of Hernan Crespo” when Inter coach Roberto Mancini substituted him in the 57th minute for striker Julio Cruz. Hey, Crespo was not happy because he walked straight past Mancini who just padded his back as saying “well done.”

‘In the 74th minute, midfielder Dejan Stankovic sends an assist to Mario Balotelli who shoots from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. What a day for Balotelli. First he provides the assist for the first goal, then, he scored the second goal. What else could he ask for?’

Balotelli was delivering regularly and Inter now went on to win the Serie A title. Mario had won his first major honour at the age of 17. But it was another big-name striker who would make sure that the title returned to the San Siro boardroom. Yes, the mighty Swede, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, returned from a two-month lay-off to claim the win that meant Inter finished just above Roma.

He scored twice in the must-win final game at Parma after only coming on as a sub at half-time. Drawing 0-0 at the interval, Inter were at that stage behind Roma in the battle for the title. But goals from Ibrahimovic in the 62nd and 79th minutes meant that the Nerazzurri clinched their 16th Scudetto – and their third in a row. Once again, Mancini had stood by Balotelli, picking him in his starting line-up even when Ibrahimovic was raring to go on his comeback.

Mario celebrated the title win as energetically as any of his team-mates. He was overjoyed – what a first season in the big time it had been. But just as it seemed he had arrived and would now go on to become an all-time great at Inter, an unexpected dark cloud would appear on the horizon – and it went by the name of Jose Mourinho.

After becoming the club’s most successful manager in 30 years, Roberto Mancini was about to be sacked by Internazionale. The man who had become a mentor and a minder for Mario would soon be gone – and he would be left to deal with an altogether darker, more Machiavellian individual. A man who would not take the time or make the efforts to wrap Mario in cotton wool and defend him against any criticism to aid his development. No, Mourinho was very much a man whose ego declared there could only be one idol at any club he worked – himself. From the moment he walked through the door, Mario was living on borrowed time at Internazionale. From being the boy who could be a hero, he had now become an irritant and eventually ‘unmanageable’ to the new manager.

Mancini had been at the club for four years and had won three consecutive Serie A titles (an Inter club record) and a European record 17 consecutive league game victories stretching nearly half a season. Again he guided Inter to the Coppa Italia final, but lost for a second consecutive season to Roma, 2–1 at the Stadio Olimpico. His time was officially up on May 29, 2008, when Inter put out a statement announcing his sacking.

It was an undignified end to his career at the San Siro and, surely given his record, unwarranted. But while Mancini walked away to lick his wounds confident his reputation as a top-class manager had not been affected – and confident too that he would eventually walk into another top job – Mario eyed the future with some trepidation. He knew of Mourinho and his reputation – and he was also sad that his mentor Mancini had gone. What should have been a summer of holidaying fun turned into one clouded by the shock sacking and the fear of the unknown with the Portuguese man of war.