The Italian's "disrespectful" attempted backheel was soon picked up on by other media outlets, and the clip joins other infamous Balotelli videos which have gained a cult status online. His struggle with a bib, his trip on fellow striker Edin Dzeko, and a seeming obsession to push the boundaries of male fashion have seen the 20-year-old making headlines for largely the wrong reasons in his early Manchester City career.
Balotelli racked up more cards than goals in his first season of English football - a return which he himself described in no uncertain terms when live on ITV after the FA Cup final, but how warranted is the heavy scrutiny and his billing as a 'bad boy'?
The reaction of Mancini this weekend and his previous description of Balotelli as "stupid" after getting sent off in against Dynamo Kiev last year, suggests that the manager who put a lot of faith in bringing the young Italian to the Etihad Stadium has lost patience with a player of undoubted potential.
His first season in Manchester was beset with injury at the start of the campaign and his tally of 10 goals was comfortably more than Edin Dzeko, an even more expensive acquisition, could manage. Arguably his best performance of the year came in the FA Cup final, which on paper would be the game, if any, for a player to feel the pressure and act rashly; yet Balotelli thrived, admittedly against a below par Stoke.
Few players do excel in their first year after joining from another league, and a truer test will be how Balotelli responds this season. The inpending departure of Carlos Tevez means that Balotelli has a chance to seize a more permanent place in the starting XI, with likely replacement Aguero waiting in the wings and who would also take a few weeks to adjust to the Premier League.
The attempted backheel was a mistake but football today is about more than stats and grinding out victories. Man City's trip to America was undertaken to boost the clubs profile and hopefully leave behind lasting images; if the goal had gone in then we would be talking about it for the next months, as would those who saw it. Sadly for all parties it didn't, but this was a friendly fixture and surely the purpose of a friendly, from a fans perspective is to entertain?
In all of this attention and criticism it is easy to forget that Balotelli is still only 20 years old. If you were to give any 20 year old male the reported £150,000 a week that Balotelli is on, the results would largely be catastrophic. Balotelli is still a young man and although he has plenty to learn, he should not be criticised for trying to entertain the paying public. Although players are on the payroll of their clubs; an ulterior motive of satisfying fans, and indeed showmanship is truly appreciated by fans around the world.
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