Corriere dello Sport's first page was adorned with the text "Balotelli magnificent." In Rome, a bus driver instead of his destination simply wrote "Super Mario." Four years ago, the forward was an architect of that night, which Germans called a nightmare, and his incredible double took away his place from Joachim Löw's pupils in the final of the 2012 European Championship. The photo in which Mario Balotelli took off his shirt and showed his muscles became one of the most popular and was reprinted all over the world.
Just four years later, he created another nightmare, but this time for himself. Goal.com decided to investigate the career of this scandalous footballer and answer the question: why has Mario Balotelli become a player nobody needs anymore?
From the player who brought his country a magical night on the biggest European stage, to a forward who does not even get a chance to prove himself in matches against clubs like Tranmere, Fleetwood, or Wigan at Liverpool.
He is still only 25. He is a Champions League winner. He is a three-time Serie A champion and has Premier League winners' trophies to his name.
He may not find a place in the team, be damaging, but he can also decide the fate of a match. At the same time, he is inconsistent, indifferent to football, and his chances to shine are diminishing.
Balotelli has no future at Liverpool and no offers have been made for his services to the club. According to the press, Sampdoria and Crotone are interested in him, but none of these teams have contacted the Reds about this forward. Other clubs talk about the player bringing too much risk and too little benefit.
Last season, he desperately wanted to stay at Milan and repeated it several times, but the team was not willing to keep the player in their ranks because he simply did not deserve a place in the club. "Why always me?" suddenly changed to "Why not me?"
How did Balotelli end up in such a situation? The waste of such talent cannot be understood, even by former teammate Andrea Pirlo.
"I played with one of the best forwards in the world and I could say that Mario has all the necessary skills to become one of the best forwards on the planet. I thought by now he would be one of the best. He should be one of the best," said the legendary midfielder.
So why didn't he become an elite player? Steven Gerrard did not mince words in his book "My Story" when talking about Balotelli.
"He is very talented and has the potential to become one of the best players in the world, but he will never achieve that because of his mentality and the people around him. Balotelli is always late, he always needs attention... He does not work hard enough in everyday training. With Balotelli, you fight a lost battle. He does too many things wrong", wrote the long-time Liverpool defender.
Roberto Mancini, who coached the player at Manchester City and tried to instill a different attitude in the forward, also spoke about Balotelli's bad attitude.
"I think it's important that Mario starts thinking only about football, not about things around him. Everything depends on Mario. If Mario wants to do it, he does it," said the Italian.
Throughout Balotelli's career in Italy, there was no shortage of people who wanted him to become a good and successful player, but each of them was eventually frustrated by the player's attitude and his unwillingness to put in work and effort. When he arrived at Liverpool a couple of summers ago, he acknowledged that he needed to change his attitude and increase his productivity.
"I am impressed with him because he is very open and sincere. He knows his weaknesses and his flaws and is looking for something to help him fix them. Of course, it is a risk and we will not deny that, but he is a very big talent," said Brendan Rodgers, who was coaching Liverpool at the time.
Shortly after these words, the player's training sessions again turned into jokes rather than preparation for matches. He even lost interest in matches, and Gerrard bluntly described it as, "His behavior is very poor and inappropriate." Once, Balotelli even managed to forget that Liverpool had cup matches that evening and planned other activities.
While the player spoke nicely to coaches and managers, his behavior, dedication to football, and hypocrisy alienated his teammates.
Now Balotelli has returned to Melwood to prepare for the new season and according to reports, he behaved as professionally as never before. This is also confirmed by the statements of the team's strategist Jurgen Klopp.
"Before coming here, I heard a lot of things about him. But since he returned, he has been a good lad and I couldn't say anything bad about him. It wasn't like he came back and tried to prove to everyone that he was the most important. It wasn't like that at all. There are no problems with him, I have no complaints. He is here now and we will do everything to get him in good sporting form," said the German.
Klopp is convinced that there will be a team that will be happy to acquire the new Mario Balotelli - one whose mood and motivation match his talent. Liverpool coaches are determined to do everything to bring Balotelli back to form, but it all depends on the player himself. To become wanted in the football market, he will have to prove that he is ready to take football seriously and can be useful on the field.
"He can no longer waste time," describes the player's situation best, the words of Andrea Pirlo.
