The one hundred goal quota in Serie B is getting closer and closer. With the one marked against Lecco Alfredo Donnarumma reached ninety-three and has no intention of stopping. He, however, was above all interested in regaining center stage after a season to forget at Ternana.
Catanzaro and an old acquaintance of his like Vincenzo Vivarini gave him an opportunity. He couldn’t miss it: «When a coach knows you, there is always the possibility that he wants you, but the negotiation wasn’t born immediately, it was created later, when I spoke with the coach: from there everything was concluded in a short time. I wanted a change of scenery and starting from scratch, finding Vivarini again was the best solution. And an important place like this, with these fans, is the right situation, I needed it.” The relationship between Donnarumma and Vivarini was among the reasons for the attacker’s success: «50% of what I am now is thanks to him, for tactical and technical reasons, I dedicated myself to him and for the first time I scored more than twenty goals in a championship”, said the thirty-two year old striker recalling the year of twenty-two goals in Teramo.
Eight seasons have passed, Vivarini and Donnarumma were also in tandem in Empoli, but they hadn’t met for a while: «Vivarini has changed a lot, he is always oriented towards offensive and possession football, even if in other ways. The approach, however, is always the same, with the players and how he works.” Arriving in mid-August, Donnarumma had to recover his rhythm after a period of separation at home in Terni: «I missed the races there, but I think I’m fine now, I just need to do my things».
Often paired with top strikers (Lapadula, Caputo, Coda, Torregrossa), Alfredo has always found harmony with them even off the pitch: “I like creating great relationships beyond the locker room, with families.” As for harmony in training, the fans are waiting to see him together with Iemmello: «When the quality is there it doesn’t take much to find one another. With Pietro there will be the opportunity to play together. The competition? In Serie B it’s logical that there are alternatives, you can’t think of playing alone, but I made the choice regardless of who was in front of me.”
In Padua against Lecco Donnarumma broke the deadlock: «The dedication of the goal goes to myself, I was angry, I wanted to start scoring again and doing well. And then, obviously, when you experience special moments, those closest to you are your family, so the dedication is also for them.” Catanzaro brought him back to the south, practically home for someone from Torre Annunziata who then toured almost all of Italy: «What passion there is, a thousand away fans can’t even be seen in Serie A. The people transport you and there is the sea, which I love. I’m happy to be here.” Parma on Sunday, a very tough test for a team that started off strongly and was unexpectedly leading the league: «There’s nothing to be taken for granted in Serie B, I’ve seen all sorts of things, but I expected that, compared to the others, a team like Catanzaro, built to win the C, arrived prepared in B, because it has game and identity. Against Parma – he concluded – it will be the first important and real match, a good test for us.”