BIOGRAPHY AND CAREER
Mario Barwuah Balotelli born 12 August 1990 is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Manchester City and the Italian national team.
At the age of three he was adopted by Francesco and Silvia Balotelli after his parents asked social services for help with Mario because of their cramped lifestyle. As Mario built up a reputation and started to become famous his biological parents (the Burwuah's) asked for Mario back and Balotelli later claimed that his parents only wanted him back because he had become famous and described them as 'glory hunters'.
He started his profesional football career at Lumezzane and only played for the first team twice before having an unsuccessful trial at FC Barcelona and subsequently joining Internazionale in 2007. Roberto Mancini brought Balotelli into the first team, but when Mancini left, Mario's disciplinary record fell away. Mario failed to have a good relationship with new head coach José Mourinho and in January 2009 he was suspended from Inter's first team after a number of disciplinary problems. His disciplinary did not improve when in March 2010 he came under heavy criticism by the Inter fans after he publicly appeared on the Itallian show Striscia la Notizia wearing a Milan jersey, this ultimately spelling the end of his career at Inter but did make several appearances after that and once again causing controversy in the UEFA Champions League semi-final tie with Barcelona when he got booed of his own supporters and then threw his Inter jersey on the floor after the game. In August 2010 he joined his former head coach Roberto Mancini at Manchester City, joining for a fee of around £24 million. He scored on his debut for the club and then scored his first hat-trick for City in December 2010. In the same month he won the Golden Boy Award and when interviewed he claimed that only one other previous winner was a better player than he was and that was Lionel Messi, he also claimed not to know who Jack Wilshere was, the player he narrowly beat to the award.
Despite all of his disciplinary problems and having two Ghanaian biological parents he earned his first call-up for the Italian national football team for a friendly match against the Côte d'Ivoire after he gained Italian citizenship. He eventually earned his first cap in that game partnering Antonio Cassano and Amauri in attack.
Balotelli was born to Ghanaian immigrants Thomas and Rose Barwuah in the Italian city of Palermo. The family moved to Bagnolo Mella in the province of Brescia, Lombardy shortly after Balotelli was born. As a young child, Balotelli had life-threatening complications with his intestines which led to a series of operations, but his condition improved by spring 1992. However Mario's health problems and the familys cramped lifestyle meant the Barwuahs decided to ask for the help of social services who recommended that Mario should be fostered. In 1993, at the age of three, the Barwuah family agreed to entrust Mario to Francesco and Silvia Balotelli, with the legal move successively formalized by the Court of Brescia. When Balotelli had become famous his biological parents then asked for Mario back, but he later accused his biological parents of "glory hunting", stating that they only wanted him back because he had become famous. They lived in Concesio, a town and comune in Brescia. According to Law 91 of 5 February 1992, Balotelli had to wait until his 18th birthday in order to request Italian citizenship, as his adoption was never made definitive. He officially gained citizenship on 13 August 2008.
Personal Information
Full name: Mario Barwuah Balotelli
Date of birth: 12 August 1990
Place of birth: Palermo, Italy
Height: 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing : position Striker
Club information
Current club: Manchester City
Number: 45
Youth career
2001–2006 Lumezzane
2006–2007 Internazionale
Senior career*
2005–2006 Lumezzane 2 (0)
2007–2010 Internazionale 59 (20)
2010– Manchester City 11 (6)
National team‡
2008–2010 Italy U21 16 (6)
2010– Italy 2 (0)