# Ocho's Soccer TWIN: Mario Balotelli on Italy's Collapse & Why He REFUSED to Change for Any Club

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-late-run-7723013/ocho-s-soccer-twin-mario-balotelli-on-italy-s-collapse-why-he-refused-to-change-for-any-club
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-late-run-7723013/ocho-s-soccer-twin-mario-balotelli-on-italy-s-collapse-why-he-refused-to-change-for-any-club.md
Podcast: [The Late Run](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-late-run-7723013)
Published: 2026-06-18T13:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FBM2094841873.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FBM2094841873.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-late-run-7723013/episodes/ocho-s-soccer-twin-mario-balotelli-on-italy-s-collapse-why-he-refused-to-change-for-any-club
Duration seconds: 2585

## Resource

In this episode of The Late Run, Premier League and Champions League winner Mario Balotelli joins Ocho and Raheem. From the opening bow, it's clear these two are cut from the same cloth: two of the most unapologetic showmen their sports have ever produced, in one room. Chad doesn't call himself "Balotelli Jr." for nothing. Mario gets into why the Italy national team has fallen so far and how he'd fix it, the rough Liverpool year that left him low in England, the racism he faced in Serie A and why he calls it ignorance, the Mourinho red-card story, his Barcelona trial at 15, and what really happened on that LA Galaxy backheel. Plus his verdict on the Messi–Ronaldo debate ("Messi is not normal"), the one player he rates above him, life after football, and the launch of his new "Why Always Me?" project. Ocho and the crew also break down the USMNT's World Cup run on Oo's Props. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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