In 2014, I jokingly said to Mino Raiola, against my better judgment and as boldly as I dared: ‘Arrange me an interview with Mario Balotelli.’ The Italian striker of then AC Milan was an unruly footballer with countless adventures that stood in the way of a glorious career. He almost never gave an interview.
‘When do you want to go’, Mino asked, ‘I’ll arrange it quickly. Just report to the AC Milan press secretary so he knows you’re coming.’ That press secretary continued to swear that there was no point in traveling to Milan, because Balotelli indeed never gave an interview.
The day before the interview, the photographer and I were having dinner in Milan. Mino called. Gosh, the party is cancelled, was my first thought, and I quickly calculated how much this failure was going to cost the newspaper. But no, he only asked if the food tasted, if we had a nice hotel, if everything was to our liking.
The next day, at Milanello training complex, the press secretary insisted I had to keep an eye on every door or Balotelli would have flown out. He knew his Pappenheimers. Moments later, the extravagantly dressed striker shook his hand. He took his time, gave short but useful answers in his deep voice and said to the press secretary, when he indicated that enough was enough: ‘These people came all the way from the Netherlands. They should be given 45 minutes of my time.’
He signed two shirts for our sons and told great anecdotes that showed that the problem child was a beautiful person. Once, while driving on the highway, with Mino a few miles behind him, he asked his agent to load an injured dog into the car and take it to the doctor.
Mino Raiola passed away on Saturday in Milan. We happened to be in that city to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. The sons had chosen AC Milan. The leader, where Raiola was at home, had to beat Fiorentina on Sunday to keep the greatest championship chances, in the battle with fellow townsman Inter, eleven years after the last title. Overjoyed crowds in the packed San Siro temple rolled over one another as Leao scored in the closing stages, about ten minutes after Raiola’s key player Zlatan Ibrahimovic came on the field. Zlatan was visibly emotional afterwards.
Long after the interview with Balotelli was posted, I heard through the media why the striker had been so nice to the Dutch journalist. Balotelli, adopted by Italians from penniless biological parents from Ghana, could not handle the large amount of money he earned as a footballer. Raiola managed his wallet. Balotelli wanted extra pocket money to buy a new, very expensive car. Mino was allowed to do that, if he was a little accommodating to that journalist from the faraway Netherlands.
I never asked if that story is true. Mino Raiola takes thousands of beautiful anecdotes to his grave.