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Infamous Soccer Star Mario Balotelli Is Leaving Manchester City — Here Are The 21 Craziest Things He Did In England
Mario Balotelli is leaving England and returning to Italy to play for AC Milan after two tumultuous seasons for Manchester City.
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Balotelli is one of the single most entertaining athletes on the planet, on and off the field. It's a huge loss for American soccer fans, since there are more Man City games on TV than Milan games.
Fifteen months ago we started a series on the Craziest Things Mario Balotelli Has Ever Done. From October 2011 to November 2012, the list grew from 15 slides to 25 slides as Balo racked up crazy anecdote after crazy anecdote.
To celebrate his all-too-brief career at City, we picked out the 21 craziest things he ever did in England.
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He will be missed.
Balotelli has been benched for most of the 2012 Premier League season. But he scored his first goal last weekend. To celebrate, he got this tattooed on his chest:
"I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you."
Source: Daily Mail
After previously indicating Mario needed to smoke less, his coach told the Mirror this:
“It’s not my problem. If Mario wants to smoke, it’s his problem. But if he wants my opinion, it is better that he quits. But if he smokes 10 cigarettes a day and scores two goals every game, then that’s better.”
Source: The Mirror
Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini has a rule that players can't go out on the town in the 48 hours before a game.
Balotelli violated that rule by hitting a Liverpool-area strip club at 2 a.m. on the Thursday night before a Saturday game.
Source: The Sun
He also meandered around the school with some friends for 20 minutes, then left in his Bentley.
Source: Manchester Evening News
The night before a game against Manchester United, Balotelli and his friend took some rolling pins from a curry house and had a sword fight with them.
Less than 12 hours later, he scored two goals in a 6-1 rout of Man U.
Source: The Telegraph
Balotelli was somehow not red-carded for this stop on Tottenham player Scott Parker.
But he did receive a four-match ban.
After scoring the opening goal against Manchester United, Mario pulled up his jersey to reveal a shirt that said, "WHY ALWAYS ME?"
Last month, he explained to Time magazine that the slogan meant, "Just leave me alone."
Mario and four of his buddies were setting off fireworks last fall when one hit a bath towel and caught fire.
The fire department came at around 1 a.m., and Balotelli had to stay in a hotel on the night before a huge game against Manchester United.
Afterward, he became a fireworks safety spokesman for the City of Manchester.
Source: The Guardian
A youngster asked Balotelli for his autograph after practice one day. When Mario asked him why he wasn't in school, the kid said he was being picked on.
So he drove the boy and his mother to school and gave the bully a talking to. He also met to the headmaster to discuss the issue.
Source: Metro UK
He was feeling good after winning five-figures at a Manchester-area casino.
So he generously gave $1,000 to a homeless guy he saw when he left.
Source: The Sun
The officer asked him why he had so much loose cash sitting on the seat.
"Because I can," he told him.
That's about all you need to know.
Source: Daily Mail
Balotelli is apparently allergic to some kinds of grass, which is problematic if you're a soccer player.
Said his coach after the game, "I came out a minute before the players and I didn't see Mario. He then said he could play but his face was swollen."
Mario was substituted ten minutes into the second half.
Source: Yahoo!
Mario was caught throwing darts in the direction of youth team players after practice one day.
Afterward, he said he did it because he was "bored."
He was fined $100,000 for the incident.
Source: Yahoo!
Balotelli didn't pay attention to the parking rules when he moved to Manchester.
As a result, he accumulated five-figures worth of parking fines and had his white Maserati locked up dozens of times.
Source: Daily Mail
Add together the penalties for throwing darts, showing up late, getting in fights, and drawing red cards, and you get a pretty penny.
Luckily Balotelli makes $100,000 a week, so he's still doing okay.
Source: The Sun
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