Even Super Mario regretted it. In a long interview with Fedez, published on the Muschio Selvaggio podcast, the footballer recalls some moments from his football past, revealing anecdotes but also his emotional side, a fundamental factor that has influenced his professional decisions.
An important passage concerns his years at Inter when Special One was still there: “Mourinho is very nice, we’re still talking. We both have a difficult character. Sometimes we got into confrontations, but it was a fatherly confrontation, like son and father. I still have a good relationship with him.”. Even the Neroazzurri are still in his heart: “I still love Inter today, I owe my entire career to the club and to Moratti”.
During this period Marco Materazzi was another fundamental person on the growth path: “I always thought of him as an older brother. Whether I was wrong or when I was right, he always came to talk to me.”
Roma coach Jose Mourinho
Balo also reveals what happened after Francesco Totti’s ‘famous’ kick in the 2009-2010 Italian Cup final: “Totti was nervous that day because the coach wouldn’t let him play, he wasn’t mad at me. He made a mistake giving me that kick but it happened. Then I wrote to him to find out why he gave it to me and he replied “not even I received you well”. I respect Totti a lot, I love him. He wrote the history of Italian football.”
The regrets of his career: “Mino Raiola (sports agent who died last May) always told me that Ronaldo and Messi have so many Ballon d’Ors because I played 20% of my chances and if I played 100% I would have won them. When I look at my career, I have regrets: I could have done more.”
And it was always Raiola when managing young Mario who agreed to the possibility of a signing, but the player reveals what happened in 2013: “I would never have gone to Juventus, but I could have gone after the years at Manchester City. I had an appointment in Turin with Marotta, Nedved and Conte. Raiola had spoken to management, there was an offer. After returning from Turin .” , Mino called Galliani and told him he was sending me to Juve and that’s why I chose Milan. Juve have always been my opponents, even if they are too strong.”
(handle) Mino Raiola