An ode to Mario Balotelli: his notorious on and off-field antics (to date) - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli is without doubt one of the most interesting, but controversial players in the current game. Flashes of brilliance for the Etihad Stadium outfit, Inter and Italy testify to the 21-year-old's ability, but scandal and strange off-field behaviour have never been too far away in the attacker's short career to date.

Ronaldo vs Messi in Spanish Super Cup (Photo: Getty Images)

Derbies for Super Cup glory have been going on all around Europe this year; Schalke 04 defeated Borussia Dortmund in penalties at the end of July to win the DFL Supercup, AC Milan took out Inter Milan this saturday with two second half goals to obtain the Supercoppa Italiana, and just this Sunday Manchester United came back from a 2-0 deficit to Manchester city and lifted the community shield.

Pre-season games often be no more than glorified fitness sessions, and with due respect, the ‘Supercoppa de Italia' could be that type of encounter, struggling to elevate itself beyond ‘kick about level' certainly for players accustomed to scudetti and Champions League endeavours. But while the cachet of a Supercoppa triumph is debatable, an early opportunity for Milan to lay down a.

Cliché's are, well, clichéd, and even that might be a cliché. They stand as the writing equivalent of using training wheels, working well enough to "fall back on" and "get the job done" but preventing any sort of creativity from shining through along the way. Football is full of such terms, and the 24th Supercoppa Italiana helped to reinforce some of the most popular ones.

Cliché's are, well, clichéd, and even that might be a cliché. They stand as the writing equivalent of using training wheels, working well enough to "fall back on" and "get the job done" but preventing any sort of creativity from shining through along the way. Football is full of such terms, and the 24th Supercoppa Italiana helped to reinforce some of the most popular ones.

Il primo trofeo della stagione, la Supercoppa Italiana 2011-2012, è del Milan che, in rimonta, piega con il risultato di 2 a 1 i cugini dell'Inter e conquista il prestigioso trofeo nello stadio nazionale di Pechino. Non basta un buon primo tempo all'undici di Gasperini, coronato dal vantaggio firmato Sneijder (forse uno degli ultimi goal [.

0-1 Wesley Sneijder 22' 1-1 Ibrahimovic 60' 2-1 Boateng 69' Vuoi conoscere le classifiche, i risultati, le statistiche e le quote scommesse da tutto il calcio mondiale? Visita Calciometria.com DISCLAIMER: Calcioplus non hosta alcun video pubblicato su di esso. Tutti i video pubblicati sono caricati da amanti di calcio su siti di video hosting come Youtube e Dailymotion ed ubicati dunque su

Manca poco (ore 14 italiane, 20 locali in Cina) al derby milanese (prima volta in campo neutro e all'estero) che assegna la Supercoppa Italiana 2011-2012, primo grande appuntamento della nuova stagione calcistica. Dall' istituzione del girone unico sono 188 i precedenti ufficiali complessivi tra le due squadre: il bilancio parla di 63 affermazioni del Milan, [.

AC Milan has been told to make Liverpool a £8.7 million bid for Alberto Aquilani by the player's agent Franco Zavaglia.
The Italy international has been strongly tipped to return to his homeland after failing to make a mark at Liverpool following a big-money move from Roma in 2009.
AC Milan CEO Adriano Galliani recently claimed his club could be interested in the 27-year-old, who was linked Fiorentina after a successful loan spell with Juventus last season.

The Serie A season begins in a little over three weeks, yet the curtain raiser for Italy's top flight takes place this Saturday. While Inter have been a constant in the Supercoppa over the last six years, this year's matchup holds special significance. Not only is it once again being held in Beijing's historic Bird's Nest Stadium, Inter's opponents are city rivals and last season's Scudetto.

Buongiorno amici, sempre più numerosi, di Stadio Goal. In attesa della supercoppa italiana, prima di sapere se Mario Balotelli riuscir ad essere rossonero, ecco ON THE BEACH che torna per parlare di..calcio..Oggi vogliamo omaggiare il nuovo PSG, che spende tanto e tanto fa sognare. Paris più saint che mai.

The next edition of the Supercoppa Italiana (Italian Super Cup) will be held on 6 August 2011 in China's National Stadium in Beijing, known as the 'Bird's Nest'. This year's contestants will provide a Milan/Milano derby - 'eternal rivals' AC Milan and Internazionale Milano - both of which have won the Cup five times since the competition began in 1988.

1. Onore alle dittature, basta che paghino. E' questa l'unica vera filosofia del calcio italiano, che dopo l'indimenticabile Supercoppa a Tripoli (2002, Juventus-Parma) si è piegato di nuovo ai voleri di una Cina che pretendeva che i patti venissero rispettati e che la Supercoppa italiana 2011 si disputasse a Pechino il 6 agosto due anni [.

Samuel Eto'o finished off what has been a brilliant year for him by scoring two goals as Inter beat Palermo 3-1 to win the Italian Cup final.

Eto'o's 36th goal of the season gave Inter the lead in the 26th minute. Thiago Motta won the ball while being brought down by Hernandez; Sneijder picked it up and, seeing Eto'o's run, slid a delightful pass in behind the defence for Samuel to latch onto, bear down on goal and sidefoot past Sirigu into the far corner.