Thursday, April 17, 2008

In Praise Of: Marco Balotelli

Most Americans aren't watching soccer. There was the NCAA's basketball championship. There was baseball's opening week.

Americans who are watching soccer are watching mostly the Champions League, as well they should (C'mon Giggsy!) There are no Italian teams left in Champions League, so it is forgiveable that many American soccer fans don't care much about what is happening in Serie A.

Of the teams in Serie A, one of the teams that has crazy depth at striker certainly has to be Inter Milan. Perhaps die hards have noticed that Inter has been forced to play their brand new secret weapon, Mario Balotelli. Mario is about as Italian as I am.

He is Ghanian by birth, adopted by Italians, and now on the front line for one of the premier clubs in all of Italy. Oh, and he's not yet 20. He throws elbows like a defender, he turns in the box like Nistelrooy, he controls the ball like an oversized Maradona. Any wonder that Ghana and Italy are fighting over who he should play for in World Cup 2012?

Say Hello to Mario Balotelli! (Watch out--crappy Euro Dance Music in the mix here)


6 comments:

Andrew Wice said...

Wow, soccer and crappy Euro dance music? What an outrageous combination.

The Fan's Attic said...

I couldn't make it through the highlights with Euro-disco, was it just highlights from one match?

Big Blue Monkey said...

nope--it's a mixed bag; some of them may even been from a reserve squad match.

There are other shorter highlights available on YouTube, though. Presumably without shitty Eurodanciness.

you gotta watch a little bit of this kid play though.

Anonymous said...

Considering he was born in Palermo (therefore not Ghanian by birth) and speaks Italian and no other language.... he is WAY more Italian than you are.
Get your facts straight please.

Big Blue Monkey said...

Hey Anonymous, way to correct an obvious joke.

Marco was born on Palermo to Ghanian immigrants who promptly gave him up for adoption.

Yes, he grew up in Italy, and yes that makes him way more Italian than me. But his direct ancestry is Ghanian. The name Marco Balotelli would suggest otherwise, yes?

Even Freddy Adu has more obvious Ghanian roots than Marco.

Again, it was a joke. Sorry it offended some random Anonymous commenter.

(You'd think that an American sportsblog even recognizing the guy should be worthy of praise. But, you know, whatever.)

You are a jerk, Anonymous.

Big Blue Monkey said...

Oh, and if he's so Italian, why does the Ghana National team wooing him so much? Presumably, they are putting the same effort in convincing Gatuso that he is Ghanian as well?