Call it Generation Z or whatever you want. Look at the date of birth which takes you back to Italy’s last World Cup triumph (2006) or shortly before (2004), then think about what these ‘kids’ are doing on the pitch and forget how old they are: the talent they have is worth much more than their identity card. The two faces of Catanzaro’s victory in Mantua are those of Alphadjo Cisse and Costantino Favasuli: two goals out of three (and another triggered in any case) in a match full of meanings which in any case does not add anything new to the judgment one can have of them: Cisse was voted MVP of the matchday in Serie B (and had already been the best Under 23 of September), while Favasuli devastated the right wing with a masterful performance, the last of a series.
Costantino is only 21 years old and you wouldn’t think so when you hear him speak: «We started off a bit sluggish, but then we recovered very well and I’m happy with my performance, but on Sunday we have a tough match ahead of us and so my mind is already there», he explained after the success in Mantua in which he contributed by causing the equalizer’s own goal and scoring the goal that made it 1-3, his first in the Giallorossi. A boy from Calabria, Favasuli, who grew up in Fiorentina, but is viscerally attached to his roots: «As a Calabrian I feel very strongly about the shirt and the fact of representing my land, so I feel like giving everything on the pitch. My future? I’m happy to be here, I really wanted it because I’m at home and I feel great there, so I really don’t think about the future.”
He also looks great on the right, where Aquilani (“He is my footballing father, it’s for him too if I’m here”) has put him in the last two matches, obtaining exemplary performances not only through sacrifice: “I try to do the two phases with maximum effort, this time I succeeded, but I can and must do better”, was the realistic admission of the twenty-one year old who has “always been inspired by Joao Cancelo, even if I know I’m risking too big a comparison”.
As for Cisse, there’s little to say now even if almost everyone out there spells his surname wrong (which shouldn’t be accented): if he continues like this, the nineteen-year-old from Hellas Verona, already in the sights of bigger clubs (Roma), will soon start to not get him wrong anymore. As he does in the opposing areas: with the pearl against Mantua (the partial 1-2) he scored his fifth goal of the season, he is the youngest after Empoli’s Popov (born in 2007) to have so many goals in the five main European tournaments and related second divisions.
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