Mario Balotelli is a striker who plays for English side Manchester City and Italy.
His parents were immigrants from Ghana but they gave him up for adoption at the age of three. His Italian surname is from his adopted family and he gained his Italian citizenship when he turned 18 years old. Througout his career in Italy he has been subjected to racial abuse from fans of other teams.
In Balotelli’s early years he came through a local team in Lombardy called Lumezzane. He made his senior debut for them aged 15 and then travelled to Barcelona on a trial. That was unsuccessful and he soon returned to northern Italy. Internazionale signed the motivated teenager on loan from Lumezzane, which Inter made permanent just before he turned 17. Later that year, in December 2007, Balotelli made his Serie A debut. He soon scored for Internazionale both in Coppa Italia and in Serie A and the season ended with them winning the Serie A title. Manager Roberto Mancini was still sacked because of their early departure from the Champions League that season. Mancini was replaced by Jose Mourinho. The following season also had the young Balotelli scoring in the Champions League and with Internazionale again winning the Serie A. Balotelli was hovever having a mounting amount of disciplinary problems. Mourinho accused him for not putting effor into his training and these problems continued into the next season. Several controversial incidents led to some fans and team mates also turning against Balotelli.

In August 2010 his former coach Roberto Mancini signed Balotelli to Manchester City for a fee of £24 million. His first season in England was troubled by an injury and some lack of control of his temperament. He received two red cards during the season but also scored some important goals. Manchester City finished the season by winning the FA Cup final and Balotelli was named man of the match. He has followed this up by starting the 2011/12 season in fine form, scoring and assisting several goals.

Massimo Oddo is a 34 year old right-back who plays for AC Milan. He signed a new one year contract in July 2010. Oddo has also played 34 times for Italy and was part of the squad winning the 2006 FIFA World Championship.

Marco Borriello is a striker who plays for Italian side AS Roma, on loan from AC Milan.
He has also won 5 caps for Italy.

Giuseppe Rossi is a striker who plays for Spanish side Villarreal and the Italian national team. Rossi was born in the USA, to Italian immigrants, but moved to Italy as a 13 year old to join Parma’s youth squad. At age 17 his contract was signed over to English side Manchester United. Rossi was sent out on loan, first to Newcastle, then back to Parma. While playing at Parma he was noticed by other clubs and in July 2007 he signed with Villarreal. Rossi had only played a handful of matches for Manchester United but a clause in the contract allows United to buy him back at a later date.
At Villarreal Rossi has firmly established himself as a top striker and is the club’s top scorer. Rossi has also played himself up through they youth ranks of the Italian national team. He was their top scorer at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He narrowly missed out on a place in the 2010 FIFA World Cup squad.

Sebastian Giovinco is an attacking midfielder on loan to Parma from Juventus. He made his debut for Juventus’ first-team in May 2007, at the age of 20. He spent the 2007-08 season on loan at Empoli, with several strong performances in both Serie A and in the UEFA Cup. Empoli were still relegated at the end of the season and he returned to Juventus. The next two season Giovinco found himself on the bench much of the time, despite delivering some excellent performances. Giovinco has also played U-21 football and in the 2008 Olympics for Italy.