Mario Balotelli time, and that when a police officer asked why he had such a large sum of cash, Balotelli replied, "Because I am rich." Off-field activities involving Balotelli have included driving into a women's prison in Italy to "have a look round", and throwing darts at a youth team player during a training ground "prank" – all of which have been confirmed to be true. Balotelli has also been subjected to tabloid rumours about him confronting a bully in a school after querying why a young Manchester City fan was not attending classes, and giving £1,000 to a homeless man on
Mario Balotelli City manager Roberto Mancini had repeatedly defended Balotelli, but he and footballer Daniele De Rossi believed Balotellki would need to grow up and mature if he was going to become the centrepiece of future Italian success. On 10 June 2012, Balotelli also became the first black player to appear for Italy in a major tournament (UEFA European Championship or FIFA World Cup) in a 1–1 draw against Spain, Italy's first match of UEFA Euro 2012. Italy and Spain later played each other for the second time in the tournament in Kiev. During the 1–1 draw, Balotelli failed to make an