Mario Ballotelli suffered years of racism from the stands in Italy, and Spain and Croatia supporters have been accused of targeting him with monkey chants during their group games during Euro 2012, and a banana was thrown on to the pitch during the Croatia match.
THIS is how the biggest sports paper in Italy chooses to CELEBRATE one of their best national players. Where was the editor? Was he on holiday? Or was there a meeting where they all discussed what a funny idea this was and how well it would be received by the player, his team, the nation, the world? Sometimes I wonder what year it is.
Scarcely believable, I read this in the paper this morning, June 27th, 2012! Apparently the cartoon artist wanted to depict Mario swatting away England shots. A little more thought was required perhaps, especially given that England had approximately zero attempts on goal in the entire game.
Absolutely mindblowing…..I had been revelling in the discomfort that must be felt by Italian racists watching that glorious man, but I had no idea they could be so overt in the press. I hope they win due to a Balotelli hat-trick, could have quite an effect on the next generation!