Mario Balotelli Accused of Throwing Pasta at Marco Motta During Italy U21 Days

Spartak Moscow’s Salvatore Bocchetti has recounted the time Mario Balotelli threw pasta at Italy under-21 team-mate Marco Motta. 

Balotelli, who joined Nice from Liverpool in the summer, has a reputation for wild antics. And Bocchetti’s tale of the forward in his younger days is set to be the latest to be inserted into the catalogue of craziness.

“One day were were eating in the dining room with the rest of the squad,” he told Russian television show Kul't Tura (h/t Chris Wright of ESPN.co.uk). “Balotelli arrived, and he just throw a plate of pasta into the face of Marco Motta! He's a good player, but he's got no head! He's crazy! He's got no brain.”

Later, the Spartak man took to social media to clarify the comments made, insisting he shouldn’t have stated that Balotelli has “no brain”:

It’s a story that won’t surprise many. As aforementioned, Balotelli has often been involved in similar tales of horseplay, per BBC Sport. 

The Italy international striker famously became the face of a firework safety campaign after he accidentally set some off in his home. It’s also reported that his mother once asked him to go out and buy her an ironing board; Balotelli returned with a quad bike, a Scalextric set and a trampoline.

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On the field, the striker has endured a torrid couple of years, struggling at Liverpool and on loan at AC Milan. However, as we can see courtesy of Squawka Football, Balotelli has settled in well at Nice:

Balotelli will be hoping to finally live up to his talent in Ligue 1, having faltered with the likes of Inter Milan and Manchester City. Nice enjoyed a fine campaign in 2015-16, finishing in fourth, although the club is a big step down from what the striker is accustomed to.

Motta, meanwhile, went on to represent the Italian national team once in 2010 and is currently without a club.