Mario Balotelli took revenge on Tuesday against Besiktas coach Sergen Yalcin, who in 2011 strongly criticized the now attacker of Adana Demirspor. The Italian came in during the game against Besiktas and helped to turn a 3-0 deficit into 3-3 with a wonderful goal. After his goal, Balotelli ran to Besiktas’ bench and pointed two fingers at his head in front of Yalcin.
The reason is the famous exhibition game between Los Angeles Galaxy and Manchester City in July 2011. After 28 minutes of play, Balotelli approached the goalkeeper and had the corner to choose. However, he stopped, turned and shot the ball with a chopping ball carelessly wide. Then coach Roberto Mancini replaced his compatriot a few minutes later. “This is disrespectful behaviour,” Yalcin said afterwards. “This boy has no brains. You can make a blunder, that is inherent in football. But this is disrespectful to the opponent and it reflects the character of the player. A good decision from Mancini. I would have fired Balotelli myself,” the Turk emphasized at the time.
Balotelli was nominated a year ago to go to Besiktas, but Yalcin resisted the attacker’s arrival. “I didn’t want Balotelli,” the trainer explained afterwards. “The striker position is the most important position at Besiktas. Then a striker should not have any question marks in his head. He hasn’t played much for three to four years, and even though he hasn’t had any injuries and he does have qualities, I didn’t think he was suitable.” Balotelli had apparently not forgotten Yalcin’s statements from years ago and last year and rushed to the Besiktas bench after his 3-2. He turned to Yalcin and pointed his fingers at his head. Even afterwards, the Italian called something to the bank.
Yalcin didn’t know what hit him. “It’s the first time I’ve seen a football player do something like that to the opponent’s coach,” the Besiktas coach said after the game. “I don’t understand why he did this. He was probably motivated for this game because he couldn’t sign with us last year.” Balotelli himself continued via social media. “We have brains and more importantly, we have big hearts. We are proud of that,” emphasized the Italian.
Murat Sancak regretted the incident. “I wish it had never happened,” Adana Demirspor president admitted. “That applies not only to Balotelli’s action tonight, but also to Yalcin’s earlier statements. Balotelli is called crazy all the time. A madman cannot be called a madman. Someone has clearly inspired Balotelli.”