World Cup: Mamdani surprisingly quotes Balotelli, 'one of the greatest'

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on

Friday surprised listeners by quoting former Man City, Inter, AC

Milan, Liverpool and Italy striker Mario Balotelli, calling him

one of the greatest ever soccer players and saying if New York

managed to organise an efficient and successful World Cup then

it was only doing its job, as Balotelli once said when asked why

he didn't over-celebrate his goals.

Mamdani quoted Balotelli, who is widely regarded as having

squandered his early talent, during a speech ahead of the 2026

World Cup, calling the Italian footballer "one of the greatest

strikers of recent times."

Somewhat surprisingly, the New York mayor cited the Italian

player to explain his point: "Mario Balotelli, one of the

greatest strikers of recent times, once said regarding his

celebrations after a goal, 'When I score, I don't celebrate

because I'm just doing my job. When a postman delivers letters,

does he celebrate?'"

To which Mamdani added: "When New York hosts a World Cup that's

organized, safe, and runs smoothly and without a hitch, will we

celebrate? No, because we'll just be doing our job."

Balotelli, 35, who now plays for Emirati side Al-Ittifaq after

going through a string of sides including Nice, Marseille,

Brescia, Monza, Adana Demirspor and Genoa, played for Italy 38

times between 2010 and 2018, scoring 14 goals including a

memorable brace against Germany in a European championship

semi-final in 2012, when Italy lost the final to Spain.

He is widely seen as having failed to fulfil a huge talent.

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