Mario Balotelli he is bad for the team. Balotelli went on to start against England in the quarter-finals. His performance was described as "wasteful", but his effort was rated highly in a match where he missed multiple chances. He scored the first penalty taken in the shootout against his Manchester City teammate Joe Hart. On 28 June, Balotelli scored twice within the first 40 minutes in Italy's semi-final clash with Germany, as the "Azzurri" won 2–1 and progressed to the Euro 2012 final against European and world champions Spain. After scoring the second goal in that semi-final, he ripped off his shirt
Racism in association football were also brought to the attention of the European football governing body UEFA and the EU. In April 2009, Inter's Mario Balotelli, an Italian footballer of Ghanaian descent, was subjected to racial abuse from Juventus fans. They were handed a one-game home fan ban as a result. At UEFA Euro 2012 playing for Italy, he fell victim to monkey chants during a match against Spain. After his move from Milan to Liverpool in August 2014, he was the target of more than 8,000 abusive posts on social media between that time, and by March 2015, more than 4,000 of these