Moratti: Take Balotelli as he is

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Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti believes Italy international Mario Balotelli should be accepted the way he is.

The Manchester City forward is playing in his first major international competition at the European Championship.
The temperamental 21-year-old has been making headlines in Poland and Ukraine and not just for his talent, something that also happened when he was an Inter player.
"I am always ready to forgive everything," Moratti said to Italian newspaper Il Giorno. "I have an idea of what he (Balotelli) is like because I know Mario since he was a boy.
"He has a wonderful family, who adore him and protect him and he repays that affection.
"But there is something in him that makes him distrustful of everyone, even those that appreciate him, as is the case of (Italy coach Cesare) Prandelli, who called him up to the national team."
Balotelli had an angry outburst after scoring in Monday's 2-0 triumph over the Republic of Ireland.
Prandelli did not start Balotelli in that game but he came off the bench and scored his first goal in the tournament.
However, rather than celebrate, he looked into the direction of the Italian bench and shouted a few words before team-mate Leonardo Bonucci put his hand over the striker's mouth.
"You only have to look at the goal against Ireland," Moratti said. "You need a lot of interior strength to repress that joy that you naturally get when you do such an important act (to score for your country).
"Balotelli is like that.
"You have to take him as he is without pretending to want to change him."
Moratti does not regret selling Balotelli in the summer of 2010 to City.
"His transfer? It was the thing to do at the time, even for his own interest," Moratti said.
Balotelli came under heavy criticism from Inter fans after he publicly wore an AC Milan jersey on an Italian television show, leading to an apology on the club's website.
The Italian forward has nevertheless been linked in recent months with a return to Inter.
However, Moratti, whose club made a 21 million euros profit on Balotelli's transfer to City, believes that even if Inter wanted him back, they could not afford him.
"To bring him (Balotelli) back? We are constructing a young squad," Moratti said.
"With the (financial) problems we have in Italy, there are certain investments that you simply cannot make."
Much has been made in the build-up to Sunday's quarter-final about England's three City stars knowing which buttons to press to ensure Italy striker Balotelli does not wreck their Euro 2012 dream.
But Joe Hart said: "I don't think it's particularly on-field people who push his buttons.
"If anything were to happen, it's usually the situations around it."
The 21-year-old has found himself on the front pages of newspapers as often as the back, both in England and his native Italy, and it has become increasingly difficult to determine where the truth ends and the legend begins.
"He's quite an extravagant guy," Hart said.
"I think Mario accepts, with the way he is, that sometimes he's going to bring attention to himself.
"But he has got broad shoulders and whatever's written about him will not affect him and I know that, I know that personally.
"People can keep writing. He wasn't bothered that things were made up about him because he lets things just kind of slide off."
Hart added: "He is what he is, Mario.
"I think you just come to love the guy because of what he is.
"There's no acting with him. He just does as he does. And when he's on form football-wise, he's a great player."
Sunday's match has been billed by the Italian media as the battle of the bad boys, with Balotelli squaring off against England star Wayne Rooney.
Hart said: "A lot gets made of their off-the-field activities.
"But I think if the media took an interest in any one of our lives like they did theirs then they'd find interesting things about anyone.
"They just happen to be the people that people pick on.
"Wayne's a fantastic footballer and, obviously, I've worked closely with Mario and I think he's an exceptional footballer, too.
"It will be good for everyone to watch those two players doing their thing on Sunday."
However, while Rooney looks certain to start for England, Balotelli's role is unclear after he was dropped for Italy's final Group C game against Republic of Ireland, only to come off the bench and score a typically impudent goal.
Hart said: "He could be a great threat. He's a great player but, as well as me knowing him, more importantly Joleon [Lescott] knows him, who he'll probably come up against if he plays.
"I've seen them battle out in training many times.
"I've never actually played against the guy but it'll be a lot of fun and it'll be interesting to see what he brings to the table."
And Hart warned Balotelli he would not be scared to go toe-to-toe with the striker.
"We don't fear anyone," he said.
"We've not come here to fear anyone or be inferior.
"We are a good team and we're here to do well."