A biography for Mario Balotellihasn’t been written yet.
“Sometimes I dream to be alone and that nobody would talk to me. But I understand that football is really important and that everybody watches it. When you're famous, you have to do photos or autographs, especially for the kids.”
“Sometimes in football you deserve to win but lose. Other times you deserve to lose or draw but you win. That is the game, and it's why I've always said you should never try to predict anything in football, especially in Europe.”
“I don't like to talk much, even when people speak bad about me. Inside me, I say, 'Why do they have to think of me that way?' But I know how I am. My objective is not that people follow me, but I'm happy that they do.”
“People who know me, love me. People who don't know me love me too... or they hate me.”
“When I decide to score, I score. I know I am strong, but I believe it is not enough yet. I can kick fine, dribble very well, but I still have to improve.”
“Racism springs from ignorance.”
“I don't like journalists and I hardly ever talk to them.”
“When I lose my temper it's because I decide to. If I do something it's because I want to do it.”
“I don't like golf. It's not for me, it's too quiet.”
“I know I have a responsibility as a role model to children and I try to fulfill that.”
“For me, my mother is everything.”
“I would be ready to become a dad if I was with the right person. I'd like a boy, though. Because they're in charge.”
“When I wasn't famous, I had a lot of friends, almost all of them Italian. The racism only started when I started to play football.”
“When people talk about my business, my life, I'm really private. Maybe someone thinks I'm arrogant or something, but it's just me.”
“I am different - if you can find another like me, then I will buy you dinner!”
“I don't follow politics; it doesn't interest me. So why should I vote?”
“Inside me I'm Ghanaian, and I'm proud to be African. But of course I'm Italian. I was born in Italy. I've never been to Africa in my life, but I will go one day.”
“Occasionally, you feel like the only person able to win the match. So you take all the responsibility, you do too much, and you do something bad.”
“They say that abandonment is a wound that never heals. I say only that an abandoned child never forgets.”
“My public image is absolutely not a fair reflection of who I am.”