Grow up, Balo
Last Updated: 01st July 2012
MARIO BALOTELLI has been told to ‘grow up’ if he wants to make the most of his incredible talent.
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The message comes from a fellow Italian star who has had to battle more than his own fair share of demons.
Antonio Cassano has struggled with temperament problems, a ballooning waistline, fitness issues and a lack of faith from national team coaches. So he is well qualified to offer some helpful advice to his strike partner.
Manchester City marksman Balotelli has taken Euro 2012 by storm and faces Spain in tonight’s final.
But a volatile personality, on and off the field, has frequently overshadowed his remarkable skill and led critics to claim the 21-year-old is a walking time bomb.
Even so, Cassano insists Balotelli’s future remains in his own hands and that only he can determine whether he goes on to become a world great or a tragic victim of his own shortcomings.
He declared: “Balotelli is young and still needs to mature. He is also emotive and sometimes his temperament can be his own worst enemy.
“But he has fire in his stomach and it makes him strong, so you have to be careful how you handle him.
“To tame him would be wrong, though he has to learn to control his emotions and direct them in a positive way. Only he can decide whether he wants it all or whether it all goes to waste. I have great empathy with him and know how hard it is, especially when occasionally you think the whole world is against you.
“But at the moment Balotelli is on top of the world, very focused and dreaming of making Italy champions.
“As a strike partnership we are working very well together and giving Italy self-respect in difficult times.”
For Cassano, playing in the Euro 2012 final was once a far-off fantasy.
Last October, the AC Milan striker’s presence at the tournament looked unlikely after surgeons discovered he had a severe heart defect.
Returning from a game in Rome, he suffered a stroke caused by a blood clot in an artery supplying the brain. He was left requiring surgery to repair a hole in his heart.
Cassano faced a long and uncertain wait on the sidelines before doctors gave him the all-clear to return.
Marcello Lippi overlooked him entirely for the 2010 World Cup, although the 29-year-old has rarely enjoyed regular football with the national side since his debut in 2003.
He admitted: “Reaching this final will mark the most important point in my career.
“I never thought it would happen. I am just grateful to be here. I never lose sight of how lucky I am.
“It has been a long battle back to fitness but I never expected this. It was really just a distant dream.” A week before the Italian party arrived at the Euros, they found themselves embroiled in more match-fixing allegations surrounding the national game.
Police even stormed the Italy HQ and arrested Juventus coach Antonio Conte and defender Domenico Criscito, who was subsequently axed from the squad.
Ironically, the last time they entered a tournament in similar circumstances, the Azzurri rallied together to win the World Cup in 2006.
Yet even though the omens are good ahead of tonight’s showdown in Kiev, Cassano revealed it has tarnished Italian football.
He said: “The sad thing is we are making headlines for all the wrong reasons because of these match-fixing allegations.
“But this is the perfect opportunity to make them for the right reasons, to show the world Italy can also make headlines for sporting success rather than scandal.
“Naturally, it has had an impact on the team because we are normal people. But, in a way, it has given us a greater incentive to do well and make Italian people proud.
“We are under no illusions we face a difficult match against Spain. In the group phase there was nothing between the two teams in a 1-1 draw.
“But now the circumstances are completely different. It’s all or nothing. I think the first goal will be decisive. If we can can open the scoring, I’m convinced we will be champions.
“In Andrea Pirlo, we have the only candidate for Player of the Tournament if Italy win. He plays like a juvenile, full of strength and quality.
“Yet it would be unfair on the other players to say that Pirlo, Gianluigi Buffon and Balotelli have carried us to this point. We fight as a team, win as a team and, if it happens, we will lose as a team.
“I know many of the Spanish players well and they take great success and experience into the final.
“There will be nerves and there will be tears. But, for Italy, I hope they are tears of joy.”
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