Italy's New Saviour Mario Balotelli Can Be the World's Best, If...

There is no doubting the phenomenal talent of Mario Balotelli. A player of exceptional technical ability, a master from set pieces, and with pace to match, Balotelli has all the attributes to become the world’s best player and Italy's new saviour. 

Born in Palermo to Ghanaian parents, Super Mario, as he is known, is easily the most talented and exciting Italian player currently climbing the ranks of Italian football. Not since the emergence of Francesco Totti has Italy had reason to be so excited by the immense potential of a certain future star of the game.

After capturing the attention of the Italian media following his two goal brace against Juventus in 2008 in the Coppa Italia, Balotelli has continued to display his undoubted class and immense potential in the colours of Inter Milan.

Though still not a regular for his club, Balotelli's importance for his the Nerazzurri has steadily grown over the last two campaigns. Last season Super Mario accumulated nine goals from his 18 starting appearances. This season, whilst only having made 15 starts due to a variety of reasons, Mario has still managed to score an impressive nine goals as well as provide eight assists.

What sets Balotelli apart from his contemporaries like Pato or Sergio Aguero is that he is just as gifted at scoring goals as he is at making them. This one characteristic of Balotelli is what makes him better than the two aforementioned players and any other player of his generation that is up and coming.

It is this characteristic that all the greats of the game have possessed. Johan Cruyff, Pele, Diego Maradona, Roberto Baggio, and Zinedine Zidane were all players that scored goals just as much as they created them. Furthermore, all these players had a technical ability that was second to none, and all of them were a real threat from set pieces. Here again, Balotelli is no different. 

Whether Balotelli can follow in the footsteps of these masters of the game however, is perhaps a debate too premature for today.

But what makes Super Mario even more "Super," is that standing at 190 cm he has the physical size and strength to succeed in a modern game where these two attributes are increasingly important. In Cristiano Ronaldo the world has already seen what can become of a player who possesses the physical attributes of size and strength combined with exceptional technical ability. Here, Balotelli can follow in Ronaldo’s footsteps.   

In summary, this highly talented Palermo born striker has all the attributes to become the world’s best player and Italy's new saviour. Indeed, the Inter No. 45 is definitely aware of his own talents, having recently declared that he is ready to become the world’s best player.

But many would question whether he is actually ready to do so. For despite all his gifts as a footballer, Balotelli is also known for his rather petulant and immature behaviour. 

Unfortunately, such is the extent that this type of behaviour is displayed by the Inter prodigy that his future potential to become the world’s best is very much under threat.

It is well known that Mario Balotelli and Jose Mourinho do not enjoy the warmest of relationships, far from it actually. This season the two have clashed on numerous occasions and as a result Balotelli has been left out of the squad on a number of occasions. One time, Balotelli missed six matches in a row.

Clearly, if such a trend continues, with Balotelli being left out of squads and hence missing opportunities to play and develop as a player, then the likelihood of Super Mario fulfilling his potential is under real threat. He simply must change his behavior in order for such occurrences to not occur. If he does not, then his future may not prove to be what it promises to be.

Indeed, Balotelli should heed to the example set by Antonio Cassano. A class player in his own right, Cassano also once promised to be a player with a big future. However, his career has been severely hampered by his inability to control his own behavior. The situation with Balotelli is similar, though Balotelli is much more talented.

Hopefully, given the likely change of clubs over the summer, Balotelli's destructive behaviour may also change. If Mario can learn to change his behavior and instead focus on his football, then he surely will be on track to become the world’s best player and Italy’s hope for the future.