Mario Balotelli came off the bench to score the clinching second goal in Italy’s 2-0 win over Ireland and open his account at the European Championships.

It was only his second goal in 11 international appearances.

But the lasting image of his moment in the limelight wasn’t the athleticism with which he hooked a volley over his shoulder and past Shay Given.

Nor was it his composure and strength in holding off the close attention of John O’Shea, who had almost pulled Balotelli’s shirt clean off his back.

It was instead, in true Balotelli fashion, his reaction to the goal.

Far from expressing joy at his contribution to the victory, the errant and temperamental talent seemed angry and started to shout something in the general direction of his own bench.

Showing the political nous of a seasoned government spin doctor, Leonardo Bonucci immediately grabbed the controversial 21-year-old in a celebratory hug and thrust his hand over Balotelli’s mouth.

Speaking after the game, Bonucci then showed footwork worthy of his eccentric team-mate to side-step questions over what exactly was Balotelli’s gripe.

“What he said he said in English and I didn’t understand it,” said the Juventus centre-back, who like Balotelli had come on as a second-half substitute.

“I put my hand in front because Mario is instinctive and that’s also his strength.

“We’d spoken with him before the game and he knew how he should behave.”

Thanks to Bonucci’s quick thinking, it wasn’t clear who was the target of Balotelli’s ire.

Italy could ill-afford another controversy following the calcioscommesse match-fixing scandal that interrupted their preparations before the tournament, or Antonio Cassano’s ill-judged comments on homosexuality.

Balotelli had started both Italy’s first two group matches but came under fire in the press for his uninspired performances and failure to score.

The Manchester City forward was roundly jeered throughout his cameo by Ireland’s fans but whether he was angry at them, his coach or the Italian media was far from obvious.

Italy have been keeping hacks busy at this tournament.

As well as the sports-betting and homophobia controversies, there was the racism probe after Balotelli was allegedly abused by both Spanish and Croatian fans and then most recently paranoid talk of a ‘biscuit’.

Italy would have crashed out of the competition had Spain and Croatia drawn their final match 2-2 or a higher score draw, sending both of them through instead, and the Italian press was awash with rumours of a stitch-up, known as a “biscotto” or biscuit in Italian.

Odds on a 2-2 draw were the shortest available in betting shops in Italy on Monday.