LITMIR.BIZ

Mario Balotelli is already a footballing legend – and he's only 22. Incredibly talented, yet frequently controversial both on and off the pitch, Balotelli lit up the Premier League from the moment he signed for Manchester City in 2010. Born in Italy to Ghanaian parents, he suffered life-threatening health problems as a baby. By the age of three he had recovered, but his parents then entrusted him to a foster family and Mario grew up in the affluent village of Concesio. He began his footballing career with Lumezzane, earning promotion to the first team at the age of just 15. Balotelli's skill soon brought him to the attention of Inter Milan and he signed with them in 2006. Having made his first team debut in 2007, he became the youngest Inter player to score in the Champions League in November 2008. His second season at Inter was blighted by disciplinary problems, and a series of high-profile clashes with manager Jose Mourinho paved the way for a move to the Premier League. Reunited with former boss Roberto Mancini at Manchester City, Balotelli soon made his mark with a series of stunning goals – and yet more incidents – which led to him being the subject of increasingly implausible newspaper reports about his antics. But the 2010/11 season was to end in glory, with a man-of-the-match performance as City won the FA Cup. A stunning performance in the Euro 2012 semi-final against Germany sealed Balotelli's status as a legend. This was eclipsed in the final game of the 2011/12 Premier League season, when Balotelli provided the assist to Sergio Aguero, who scored in the 94th minute to give City their first league title since 1968. He is sure to provide entertainment, goals and controversy for years to come. Mercurial, troublesome and frequently brilliant, this is the incredible story of the most fascinating man in world football today.

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Eric Cantona's era at Manchester United was as thrilling and monumental as it was controversial and harrowing. Never was it dull, predictable or boring. Cantona carved a niche in the hearts of United fans everywhere and became the undisputed King of Old Trafford. The Frenchman made the number seven shirt his own and he certainly lived up to its magical billing as the shirt worn the club's legends – and, more often than not, its bad boys.In this authoritative and fascinating book, Frank Worrall takes a look behind the facts and the fiction of the five men who have worn the shirt with the most distinction. With the help of players, journalists and a psychologist, he analyses what made Best, Robson, Cantona, Beckham and Ronaldo tick and assesses their credentials for a permanent place in the Old Trafford hall of fame.For example, he looks at how Best finally ripped away the cobwebs of Munich by winning the European Cup almost single-handedly for United; how Cantona turned the club back into winners after a dismal spell in the wilderness and how Ronaldo has offered hope and glitter to a United in transition. It also explores the often darker side to the five men and how mischief so often goes hand in hand with their success and how it made them the entertainers they are.

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Gareth Bale is the future of Real Madrid and the beating heart of the sensational Wales national side. Although always an exceptional athlete, at one time it seemed like Bale s terrible injury record would stop him from ever fulfilling his potential. But in the season of 2012-2013, he caught fire for Tottenham Hotspur and never looked back, bagging a PFA Player of the Year Award and a move to the world s biggest club. His transfer to Real Madrid made him the world s most expensive player, and his life changed forever. This revealing portrait delves into just how the boy from Cardiff went on to become the world s most in-demand player. It also traces how his relationship with the notoriously competitive Ronaldo unfolded and how he has gradually emerged from his teammate s shadow to become Real Madrid s most prized asset, and a Welsh national hero.

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Javier Hernandez – better known to legions of Manchester United fans as Chicharito – is one of the most exciting young talents in football today.Born in Guadalajara, Mexico, Hernandez joined his local club C D Guadalajara at the age of nine and signed his first contract at 15. Making his full debut in 2006, he impressed in the Mexican league so much that he caught the eye of a Manchester United scout in 2009. He signed for United on 8 April 2010 and scored on his debut in the MLS All-Star Game on 28 July. Since then, Hernandez has continued to light up the Old Trafford pitch, becoming a firm favourite with fans (who voted him Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year in 2011) and scoring vital goals for the club. He became the first player since Ruud van Nistelrooy to score more than 20 goals in his debut season as United clinched a record-equalling 19th Premier League title, and despite some injury concerns in the opening half of the 2011/12 season, he has continued to be a major player for United. Still only 24 years old, the 'little pea' has committed himself to United until 2016 and looks set to help the Reds to yet more glory. This is his fascinating story.

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On the night of 29 April 2017, at Wembley Stadium, Anthony Joshua knocked down and defeated the Ukraine's former world heavyweight champion, Vladimir Klitschko. In doing so, he added the WBA and IBO heavyweight titles to the IBF belt he already held. That bald statement of fact does little justice to what proved to be one of the finest heavyweight contests of all time, in which a brilliant but relatively inexperienced fighter took on, and eventually defeated, one of the finest boxers of his or any other age. It was a twelve-round fight before a record post-War crowd, and for eleven of those rounds it could have gone either way; indeed, in Round 6 it looked as though Joshua was finished when a massive right hand from Klitschko sent him to the canvas.But the fight also harked back to an earlier era of true sportsmen, far outshining the hype and flummery of lesser fighters, with Joshua as graceful and generous in victory as Klitschko was in defeat. For once, boxing lived up to its description as 'the Noble Art', and is all the richer for it.In this, the first post-Klitschko fight study of this remarkable boxer, bestselling sports writer Frank Worrall looks at the life and career of a young man who has won all nineteen of his professional fights by KO. Since that glorious day in 2012, when Joshua won gold at the London Olympics, he has shown himself to be a true gentleman – but a fighter to the core. At twenty-seven, he has a glittering career ahead of him, and it seems certain that he is poised to revive heavyweight boxing and usher in a new Golden Age.

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