Mario Balotelli odd shirt number 45 has a reason, as a former Man City and Liverpool hothead takes to math to explain it
The career of Mario Balotelli has been a colourful blend of positives and negatives. However, the reason why he has worn the No. 45 jersey for 15 years makes sense. Since joining his first major league club Inter Milan in 2007, the 32-year-old former Liverpool and Manchester City striker has insisted on using the same jersey number.
Why does Mario Balotelli wear the number 45 jersey and its meaning
Why Balotelli wears jersey no 45?
Balotelli’s fortunes have changed for a variety of reasons, but there is only one explanation for why his number has remained the same. When he initially played three or four games with Inter Milan, he had No45 since the numbers for young players were from No36 to No50, the 36-cap Italian reportedly remarked. Since he was joking that four plus five is nine, he chose No. 45, and he scored in each of the four games. Later on, he always maintained the number 45 as he believes it gives him luck.
However, Balotelli’s accomplishments would have doubled if his antics hadn’t so sharply divided opinion. He was previously punished by Man City for shooting darts out of a window, and he has repeatedly had his sports car possessed and his house unintentionally set on fire with fireworks.
He reportedly went about Manchester dressed as Father Christmas giving out gifts and cash to random people, as well as leaving ยฃ1,000 behind a pub bar to support the community’s holiday festivities. Additionally, he and then-City manager Roberto Mancini got into a heated argument on the practice field in 2016. He is a player that managers and teammates alike have struggled to understand despite his love of arithmetic.
The best goal of 2022 may be Mario Balotelli’s incredible rabona.
When Mario Balotelli scored an incredible goal for Adana Demirspor in May 2022 that very well could win him the FIFA Puskas Award. When he was playing in Turkey, former Italy international may not have been featured on the back page of every newspaper in the world, but boy did the goal against Gรถztepe S.K cause a stir on social media.
Moreover, given that the Puskas Award will be presented at the upcoming Best FIFA Football Awards on February 27, it would be impolite to not revisit Balotelli’s brilliance. After all, the former Manchester City star truly scored a rabona off the back of a flurry of step-overs as part of a five-goal haul, making it one of the most astonishing footballing moments of 2022.
Mario Balotelli scored โฝ๏ธโฝ๏ธโฝ๏ธโฝ๏ธโฝ๏ธ today
Come for the stepovers๐ตโ๐ซ
Stay for the rabona ๐@AdsKulubu | #Puskas pic.twitter.com/rgWtMvELQN— FIFA (@FIFAcom) May 22, 2022