Manchester City's Italian striker Mario Balotelli is seen with an angry manager Roberto Mancini in the background in a photo taken last May. Their relationship apparently has not improved since then. AFP
By Terry Fredrickson
An angry Roberto Mancini was seen clashing physically with his controversial Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli yesterday, fuelling rumours the 22-year-old star was on his way out.
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Italian bust-up in Manchester
Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is scheduled to meet the media today and you can be certain the first question will be about his troubled striker Mario Balotelli.
Specifically, reporters will want to know what happened yesterday between the two of them at the club's Carrington training base on the edge of Manchester
In a set of widely distributed photos (http://bit.ly/Z0eRqP), a furious Mancini is seen shouting at his compatriot and then briefly clashing with him before being separated by members of City's coaching staff.
An eye-witness, quoted in local newspaper the Manchester Evening News, said: "Mancini ran at him – he was furious. He grabbed hold of him and appeared to try and throw him on the floor.
"It looked like Mario was too strong and he couldn't get him down. Then all the coaches ran in to separate them but Mancini was having none of it. He kept trying to break free and have a go at him again."
The incident apparently stemmed from a reckless challenge Balotelli made on team-mate Scott Sinclair.
City coaches later downplayed the incident and said it was instantly forgotten, but it did renew speculation as to whether the talented but disappointing striker was on his way out of Manchester.
The Italian striker, 22, has been a recurrent source of controversy ever since arriving in Manchester from Inter Milan in 2010.
He has twice been dropped from City's match-day squad this season and Mancini has repeatedly warned him that he is in danger of wasting his talent.
With a salary of £170,000 (8.3 million baht) a week, however, it might not be easy to find a willing buyer.
Mancini also is short of strikers at the moment with injuries to key players, so you just might see Barotelli in action tomorrow against Watford in the FA Cup third-round.
Adapted from AFP and other agency stories.
Vocabulary
bust-up – a bad argument or very angry disagreement การโต้เถียงรุนแรง
clash physically – to fight ปะทะ
controversial – causing disagreement ที่เป็นที่ขัดแย้ง
fuel – to make something increase or become worse ทำให้รุนแรงขึ้น
rumour – a piece of information, or a story, that people talk about, but that may not be true ข่าวลือ
striker – a football player whose job is to stay near the opponent’s goal and to score goals ศูนย์หน้าตัวเป้า
apparently – based only on what you have heard or think, not on what you are certain is true; seemingly ตามที่ได้รู้มา
improve – to get better ดีขึ้น
scheduled – planned to happen at a particular time or day ตามตารางเวลา
media – newspapers, television, radio, etc. สื่อ
specifically – in a detailed and exact way เฉพาะ, เฉพาะเจาะจง
reporter – someone whose job is to write articles or make broadcasts about events in the news ผู้สื่อข่าว, นักข่าว
distribute – to give something out to many different places แจกจ่าย
furious – extremely angry ซึ่งโกรธจัด
compatriot – a person who is from the same country as you are คนชาติเดียวกัน
separate – to keep or put apart แยก
eye-witness – someone who sees something happen พยานในเหตุการณ์
quote – to repeat the words that someone else has said or written ยกคำพูดมา
local – in or related to the area that you live, or to the particular area that you are talking about ท้องถิ่น
grab – to take or hold somebody/something with your hand suddenly, firmly or roughly จับ, ฉวย,คว้า,แย่ง
appear – to seem ดูเหมือนจะ, ดูเหมือนว่า
incident – something that happens, usually something bad เหตุการณ์
stem from – to be caused by เกิดจาก
reckless – not thinking about the possible bad effects of your actions สะเพร่า
challenge – in football, an attempt to take the ball away from your opponent or to stop them from progressing คัดค้าน
team-mate – a member of the same team or group as yourself ผู้ร่วมกลุ่ม
downplay – to make something seem less important or less bad than it really is แสดงหรืออธิบายถึงสิ่งใดสิ่งหนึ่งโดยแสร้งว่าไม่สำคัญหรือไม่แย่นัก
instantly – immediately ทันที
renew – to start something again เริ่มใหม่
speculation – ideas or discussion about what might happen or has happened or why something has happened without having complete information การคาดการณ์
talented – very good at something มีความสามารถพิเศษ
disappointing – not as good, successful, etc. as you had hoped; making you feel disappointed น่าผิดหวัง, ผิดคาด
recurrent – that happens again and again เกิดขึ้นอีก,ปรากฎบ่อย ๆ
source – the cause of something – ต้นกำเนิด
squad – a team in sports from which the players for a match are chosen ทีม
willing – to be happy to do something if it is needed ซึ่งสมัครใจ, ซึ่งมีความตั้งใจ
injury – physical damage done to a person or a part of their body อาการบาดเจ็บ
key – very important ที่สำคัญ
