You may have thought that Mario Balotelli's firework antics would have come to an end a decade ago, but the mercurial character had different ideas and nearly blew up a team-mate's shoe
The Italian star has history with fireworks (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Mario Balotelli was up to his old tricks again after letting off a firework in his team's dressing room.
The ex-Manchester City and Liverpool striker is currently in his second stint at Turkish club Adana Demirspor, having played for the team in their 2021/22 campaign. He returned last year after spending a year in the Swiss league with Sion, where he netted six goals in 19 games in all competitions.
While possessing tremendous footballing ability, far too many times has Balotelli's off-the-pitch antics interrupted what was a once glittering career with his wildness very much documented throughout his career across five countries.
Having missed 11 games this season due to knee injury, the 33-year-old recently returned to fitness and scored the only goal of the game in Demirspor's win over Fatih Karagumruk on Sunday (March 3).
However, it wasn't his winner that went viral, instead his dressing room antics where he familarised himself once again with a firework, before lighting it and throwing it across the room.
The Italian had a cheeky smile on his face as he lighted the firework
The striker smirked as lighting it as the firework nearly blew up his team-mate's shoe in the hilarious video that he posted to his Instagram story. The former Italy international covered his ears as it exploded, with one team-mate in front of the explosion visibly shook by the startling noise.
Balotelli captioned the clip with party and laughing crying emojis as fans reacted on social media with one X (formerly Twitter) joking: "Balotelli cannot change at all" while another wrote: "The most unserious player".
The firework exploded one of his team-mates' shoe
A third fan referenced Balotelli's controversial past with fireworks by commenting: "Some things never change". During his time at Manchester City, the Italian reportedly set part of his house on fire in October 2011 after setting off fireworks indoors.
The absurd incident occurred just days before he scored twice for Manchester City in their famous 6-1 Manchester derby win at Old Trafford and was perhaps inspiration for his iconic 'Why Always Me' celebration. Despite the dangerous nature of his actions, he was later made an ambassador for firework safety.
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