Soccer-Balotelli blast has Italy dreaming in Malta

Soccer-Balotelli blast has Italy dreaming in Malta - Italy head into Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Malta buoyed by a stirring comeback in a 2-2 draw with Brazil and the growing belief that Mario Balotelli is finally maturing into a world class international striker.

The 22-year-old, who has courted controversy on and off the field, netted a majestic strike in Thursday's friendly in Geneva when his all-round play helped Italy battle back from 2-0 down.

He showed flashes of his brilliance at Euro 2012 with a brace in the semi-final win over Germany, but otherwise flattered to deceive and was nowhere when Spain steamrollered Cesare Prandelli's men in the final.
 

Such erratic performances had been common for the Azzurri during unpredictable spells at Inter Milan and Manchester City but now he looks settled and is first choice at boyhood heroes AC Milan. Prandelli hopes such stability will pay dividends.

"He has the potential to be among the best five (players) in the world but to do that he needs a lot of continuity, as he is having at the moment," Prandelli told reporters.

Italy top World Cup qualifying Group B with 10 points from four matches, a point above Bulgaria who battered Malta 6-0 at home on Friday to leave the island nation bottom on no points.

Malta's woes means Italy should have no trouble sealing victory, especially given the bond developing between Balotelli and Italy and Milan team mate Stephan El Shaarawy.

"I'm happy he's growing up, as a player and as a man. We are together practically all the time, I see him a lot more mature," said the 20-year-old with Egyptian heritage and a mohican.

TACTICAL DISCIPLINE
El Shaarawy is likely to operate on the left of main striker Balotelli, just like he does for Milan.

Prandelli's continued snub of Antonio Cassano despite the mercurial forward being a linchpin at Euro 2012 means the third component of his preferred three-man attack is a mystery with Emanuele Giaccherini starting in the hole against Brazil.

Alessio Cerci then came on for his debut and impressed on the right hand side of the attack and may now start.

Whoever plays, Prandelli is being ultra-cautious.

"We'll meet a more united, compact and organised team than Brazil even if they are not as technically strong. They have trained for months together like a club side," he said.

Malta hope the prospect of facing the Azzurri in front of a sell-out crowd at the National Stadium will spur the players on.

"This will be a very difficult game for us but if we are fully focused and keep our tactical discipline, I believe we can gain a creditable result," captain Michael Mifsud, 31, said.

Forward Mifsud, the most capped player in the squad with 96 appearances, should retain his place but coach Pietro Ghedin, who held various posts with the Italian Football Federation before returning as Malta coach last year, could make changes.

Midfielders Gareth Sciberras, who missed the Bulgaria game with a minor groin injury, and Andrew Cohen are set to come in.

Malta gave a good account of themselves when they lost only 2-0 to Italy in Modena last September.

Probable teams:
Malta: Andrew Hogg; Andrei Agius, Luke Dimech, Jonathan Caruana, Clayton Failla; Gareth Sciberras, Roderick Briffa, Edward Herrera, Andrew Cohen, Andre Schembri; Michael Mifsud
Italy: Gianluigi Buffon; Christian Maggio, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli, Mattia De Sciglio; Daniele De Rossi, Andrea Pirlo, Riccardo Montolivo; Alessio Cerci, Mario Balotelli, Stephan El Sharaawy
Reuters

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Soccer-Balotelli says game not doing enough to combat racism

Soccer-Balotelli says game not doing enough to combat racism - Italy striker Mario Balotelli, a high profile victim of racist abuse from the stands, says world soccer is not doing enough to combat the problem.

The 22-year-old was born in Italy to Ghanaian parents and has long had to deal with insults from fans of Juventus, who were forced to play a game behind closed doors in 2009 after supporters sang "a black Italian does not exist".

Juve fans still chant "jump up and down and Balotelli will die" but the song is deemed not to be racist by Italy's Serie A, who did fine his former club Inter Milan after monkey chants were heard in the derby with his new club AC Milan last month.
 

"It annoys me, it makes me angry and I don't like it. However, we're are making too little progress on this issue," Balotelli told a news conference on Sunday ahead of Tuesday's World Cup qualifier in Malta.

A 30,000 euro ($39,000) sanction was also dished out by Serie A to Genoa after fans sang racist chants against Milan this month and Croatia were hit with an 80,000 euro fine by UEFA at Euro 2012 for racist abuse towards Balotelli.

Anti-racism campaigners slammed UEFA as the Croatia fine was 20,000 euros less than the punishment handed out to Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner for revealing the logo of a betting company on his underpants while celebrating a goal at the Euros.

UEFA and FIFA have since started cracking down harder on racist incidents after gauging the public mood.

Milan's Kevin-Prince Boateng drew widespread praise after storming off the pitch and forcing a match to be abandoned in January when he was racially abused from the stands in a friendly at Italian lower-division side Pro Patria.

Ghana's Boateng has since joined FIFA's anti-discrimination task force and even spoke at the United Nations on the issue.

"I agree with him, to stop racism we all need to contribute, together," Balotelli said. ($1 = 0.7694 euros)

Reuters

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Conte lets rip as Juve crash out to Bayern

Conte lets rip as Juve crash out to Bayern - Juventus coach Antonio Conte has called on Italian football to get its house in order or risk becoming a lost giant of European football, following their quarter-final exit from the Champions League to Bayern Munich on Wednesday. 

Juve were outclassed during a 2-0 first leg defeat to the newly-crowned German champions last week in Munich and despite a far better performance in Turin on Wednesday the hosts fell to another 2-0 reverse. 

Conte, a former midfielder with the two-time European champions before leading the club to their 28th Scudetto in his first season in charge last year, said Tuesday there was a huge gap between his side and big-spending Bayern. 

Bayern Munich's Mario Mandzukic (L) and Giorgio Chiellini of Juventus fight during their Champions League quarter-final second leg soccer match at the Juventus stadium in Turin April 10, 2013. 

After second-half goals from Mario Mandzukic and Claudio Pizarro sealed the Bundesliga side's place in the semis for the third time in four years, the 43-year-old Conte took aim at Italian football in general. 

He said it is time for Italy's clubs to start generating the finance needed to compete on a level playing field with the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester United. 

If not, Juve could go the way of one of European football's strongest sides in the 1970s, Dutch giants Ajax, who have struggled to get back to Europe's top table in the past two decades. 

"Given that two years ago we weren't even in the Europa League I have to congratulate my players for getting this far," said Conte. 

"They've worked really hard to make a mark in this competition over the past two years. 

"They (Bayern) were simply stronger than us and we can only congratulate them. When you're playing against one of the strongest teams in Europe it becomes difficult for everyone. 

"But playing Bayern was a good opportunity to see where exactly we are compared to the big boys in Europe. Where are we, what's missing and how do we remedy it? 

"We have to look elsewhere, to Spain, to England and to Germany to see what lessons we can learn. 

"But if you have the money, you can buy (players) and win. Otherwise, it takes a lot of patience. 

"The way things are right now, I don't see any Italian teams winning the Champions League for the next several years." 

Inter Milan in 2010 were the last Italian team to win the Champions League but since then no Serie A side has made the final four of Europe's premier club competition. 

Although Juventus are considered one of the continent's bigger clubs, their comparative lack of spending power does little to draw the world's top players. 

Juve have repeatedly declared they cannot splash out 30 million euros on one player, but for the club's director general Beppe Marotta, Bayern's massive spending power has proved key. 

"We were dominated last week at Bayern and this week we lost again, but not just on the pitch -- in terms of finance as well," said Marotta, underlining the fact Bayern, champions four times, were beaten finalists in 2010 and 2012. 

"They have played two finals in the space of three years. Don't forget that Bayern have a turnover that is not only twice that of Juve, but also Milan and Inter Milan." 

Conte said he will now concentrate on "defending our league crown", but he called on Italian football -- which has been rocked by match-fixing, drugs and sports betting scandal over the years -- to take a look in the mirror, or fall further behind. 

"Look at Ajax. They were huge before, now they're nowhere in Europe," he added. 

Conte, who earlier this season served a four-month touchline ban for his alleged role in a match-fixing affair while at his former club, Siena, added: "In Italy, people are more interested in following futile stories than looking at how we can go about improving the state of our football. 

"They ask useless questions about the referee or this or that. The answer is, we have to work hard and try to take our football to a new level and to do that we have to increase the budget that's available to us." // AFP News

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Ternyata Mario Balotelli Masuk Dalam Daftar 100 Orang Berpengaruh di Dunia

Ternyata Mario Balotelli Masuk Dalam Daftar 100 Orang Berpengaruh di Dunia - Penyerang AC Milan, Mario Balotelli, dikabarkan masuk ke dalam daftar 100 orang paling berpengaruh di dunia tahun 2012 versi majalah Time. Balotelli sendiri pernah menjadi model dalam sampul majalah Time edisi Eropa pada November 2012 lalu.

Seperti diberitakan Gazzetta dello Sport pada Kamis, 4 April 2013, Balotelli bersama wakil presiden Milan Adriano Galliani dan agennya, Mino Raiolla, akan terbang ke New York pada 23 April mendatang. Mereka rencananya menghadiri acara yang diselenggarakan oleh majalah Time.

Striker Italia Mario Balotelli merayakan gol keduanya ke gawang Jerman dengan melepas kaos pada pertandingan Semi Final Euro 2012 di Stadion nasional Warsawa, Polandia (29/6). REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Hanya segelintir orang yang bisa masuk ke dalam daftar tersebut. Balotelli mengikuti jejak Lionel Messi yang pernah terpilih sebagai tokoh paling berpengaruh pada tahun lalu.

Balotelli dikenal sebagai pemain kontroversial. Perilakunya di dalam maupun di luar lapangan kerap menimbulkan masalah. Salah satunya adalah insiden pertengkaran Balotelli dengan mantan pelatihnya di Manchester City, Roberto Mancini, pada awal Januari lalu.

Terlepas dari sikap kontroversialnya, Balotelli juga dianggap sebagai pemain muda berbakat. Pemain 22 tahun itu dinilai bakal menjadi pemain penting tim nasional Italia pada Piala Dunia 2014 mendatang.

Balotelli mampu tampil gemilang sejak pindah ke Milan pada bursa transfer Januari. Mantan pemain Inter Milan itu membukukan tujuh gol dalam tujuh laga bersama Rossoneri. 

tempo.co kamis, 04 april 2013 | 17:10 wib

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