London: The Ghanaian parents of Italy striker Mario Balotelli have expressed their agony of not being able to meet their son and claimed that they do not care about his money, but just want him to come home.
Also read: After Ronaldo, can Spain decode Super Mario in Euro Cup final?»I
Mario was born to Ghanaian immigrants, Rose and Thomas Barwuah in Palermo, Italy, but health problems led to him being fostered, then adopted by Francesco and Silvia Balotelli, an Italian family in Brescia.
Legally, the family separation might be complete but the Barwuah clan have kept a close eye on Mario’s career.
Unfortunately, Mario’s grandfather Nana, a retired bus driver, expired two weeks ago at the age of 74.
Mario, 21, had plans to visit the African state for the first time in August to see his grandad and had sent him a baseball cap with his signature embroidered inside as a gift. However, his father Thomas informed him that Nana had passed away.
The Man City star, whose transfer value has soared to 52 million pounds, made no mention of his grandfather’s death in his post-match interviews, preferring to focus on his adoptive family who have brought him up since he was a toddler.
However, there was no ill feeling from his blood relatives, and they hoped that he would still make a visit to Ghana.
“We are all extremely proud of him. It was wonderful when he scored both goals and we were ecstatic. When he pulled his shirt off and showed off his chest after scoring my friends made me do the same thing,” a newspaper quoted as Mario’s uncle, Alex Barwuah, as saying.
“It made me feel closer to him. I’ve never met Mario but I feel very happy when I see him on TV. We watch him whenever we can. I’m so proud he is part of the family,” he added.
As the Italian football team clinched their place in tomorrow night’s Euro 2012 final, their two-goal hero Balotelli celebrated that special moment with Silvia, the woman who brought him up from the age of three, by diving into the crowd in the stands to giver her a hug.
“I told her, ‘these goals are for you’. I waited for this moment for so long and I wanted to make my mum happy,” he said.
ANI
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts.
Cookies Setting
By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device and the processing of information obtained via those cookies (including about your preferences, device and online activity) by us and our commercial partners to enhance site navigation, personalise ads, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. More information can be found in our Cookies and Privacy Policy. You can amend your cookie settings to reject non-essential cookies by clicking Cookie Settings below.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work or you may not be able to login.
Functional Cookies
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then some or all of these services may not function properly.
Targeting Cookies
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They are also used to limit the number of times you see an advert as well as help measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Performance Cookies
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we may not know when you have visited our site, and may not be able to monitor its performance.