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Journalism of Courage
Mario Balotelli has a history of having altercations with the coaches of different clubs he has represented over the years.
On Saturday, the 31-year-old Adana Demirspor striker argued with the team’s coach Vincenzo Montella following their 1-0 win over Umraniye in the Turkish Super Lig. A visibly upset Vincenzo Montella had to be physically restrained from confronting Balotelli.
Balotelli seemingly said something to Montella as he was walking away, the coach then turned and lunged at the forward, restrained from engaging in a physical altercation by members of his staff.
It is not the first time that Balotelli has got into clashes with his own managers.
In 2013, Mario Balotelli was involved in a physical confrontation with the then Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini in the training ground. The incident kind of ended Balotelli’s future, despite the fact that he provided the league-winning assist in stoppage time for Sergio Aguero in 2012 when City beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 and pipped rivals Manchester United to the Premier League title on goal difference.
In 2019, Balotelli was left out of Brescia’s squad for a Serie A match against AS Roma after he was involved in a training-ground argument with coach Fabio Grosso.
Once Italy’s main striker and the top scorer at Euro 2012, Balotelli had seemed to have lost his way when he played last season in the country’s second-tier Serie B with Monza before joining newly-promoted Demirspor last year.
Having last played for Italy in 2018, he was called up for a training camp earlier this year, reviving hopes he would play for the Azzurri again.
But national team coach Roberto Mancini, who coached him at Inter Milan and Manchester City, did not name him in the World Cup playoffs squad as Italy crashed out and failed to qualify.
