Give ‘super Mario’ a break by Adelani Ogunrinade.
“Why always him”? Mario Balotelli is in hot water again.
Real Madrid handed Liverpool a footballing lesson last night and the controversial Italian did not return to classes after half-time. At the interval, the former AC Milan striker was seen swapping shirts with Real Madrid’s Pepe. This is the latest in the ever growing catalogue of Mario Balotelli scandals.
When ‘Super Mario’ signed for the reds in the summer, there were question marks over his conduct. His training ground bust-up with former boss Roberto Mancini and feuds with Jose Mourinho led many to believe that a clash with Brendan Roger’s was inevitable. So much so that Liverpool considered implementing a code of conduct clause in his contract before concluding a deal to bring him back to the Premier League.
According to reports in England, Balotelli’s latest antics left coach Brendan Rogers fuming. “We will deal with it,” Rodgers said. “We had an incident with a player last year and we did it internally. It is not something I stand for. If you want to do that, you do it at the end of the game. It is something I will deal with tomorrow.”
As a sports journalist, it would be a dream to be a fly on the wall when Rogers deals with the “naughty half-time shirt swapper.” What will be the punishment for his latest sin? Will he be fined? Or will he keep the benches warm for his new club till further notice?
Swapping his shirt at half-time was not only a contrary image to the fighting spirit that the Anfield club prides itself but also suggested that he believed that there was little possibility of the miraculous comeback that won Liverpool their last Champions League medal.
At the end of the day, was he wrong?
Real Madrid had won the game convincingly by half-time. The whole Liverpool team might as well have swapped their shirts with the Christiano Ronaldo and his teammates by half-time and should not even have bothered coming out for the second half based on their lacklustre display.
As Liverpool decide on the best possible punishment for Mario Balotelli, they should put two things into consideration:
1.) He provided the assist that won his former club, Manchester city their first Premier League title in 44 years.
2.) Swapping shirts at half-time is not half as bad as biting opponents in a league match.
Give Super Mario a break, Mr.Rogers……..