Noel Gallagher meets Mario Balotelli
20.05.12
Just as Noel was explaining that he was struggling because we were using a "cockney" dartboard and not a proper "Mancunian" one, our interviewee turned up.
The chat with Mario had taken the best part of five weeks to arrange. Balotelli simply does not talk publicly. As you will see when you watch the whole thing on Football Focus on Saturday, he has no time for the media. Manchester City are inundated with requests throughout the season but 99.9% of them are turned down because the player simply says "no".
It is odd for a footballer who rarely talks to be so captivating but Balotelli is not a normal footballer. Whether it is the rumours about dressing up as Santa Clau s or paying for people's petrol, doing magic tricks for friends during a game, stamping on opponents, scoring with his shoulder , frequenting various nocturnal establishments, setting off fireworks or his "Why Always Me?" T-shirt , the man is a fascinating individual.
Like every other broadcaster in the known universe we had made several attempts to interview him throughout his time in England. About five weeks ago I called Manchester City's press department on the off-chance he had decided it was time to sit down in front of a camera. He hadn't.
Source: BBC Sport (blog)