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Antonio Cassano
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{{Football player infobox |
playername = Antonio Cassano |
image = |
fullname = Antonio Cassano |
nickname = |
dateofbirth =
July 12,
1982 |
cityofbirth =
Bari |
countryofbirth =
Italy |
currentclub =
Real Madrid |
position = Striker, Deep-lying Forward |
youthyears = 1999 |
youthclubs =
A.S. Bari Bari |
years = 1999-2001
2001-2006
2006- |
clubs = Bari
A.S. Roma AS RomaReal Madrid |
caps(goals) = 48 (6)
87 (32) |
nationalyears = 2004-2005 |
nationalteam =
Italy national football team Italy |
nationalcaps(goals) = 6 (3) |
pcupdate = N/A |
ntupdate = N/A
}}
'''Antonio Cassano''' (born
July 12,
1982 in
Bari) is an
Italy Italian football (soccer) football player who plays for club side
Real Madrid and the
Italy national football team Italian national team. He plays primarily as a
striker or in the
Football (soccer) positions#The "hole" hole (
Italian language Italian: ''fantasista'' or ''trequartista'').
Cassano grew up poor in the old section of Bari. As a child, he always played soccer in the streets of Bari and was picked up by a
A.S. Bari Bari scout and brought up through the AS Bari youth system.
Cassano made his Italian league debut in
1999 for Bari against local rivals Lecce, and a week later scored a superb goal against
Internazionale Milano F.C. Inter Milan, one of the clubs who had courted Cassano before he had eventually signed professionally with his hometown club.
The top clubs in Italy each kept a close eye on Cassano, and with rumours of a pre-contract agreement having been signed with Roma, the player eventually signed for the then Serie A champions in the summer of 2001. The transfer fee of around €28m, was at that time a huge amount to pay for a player who was still only 19 years old -
Juventus president
Luciano Moggi said at the time: "Cassano is a real talent, but €28m for a player of his age is excessive. It's too soon to understand exactly how much he is worth."
Cassano's first season at Roma produced only five goals, but as he developed his game he began to come to the attention of those in charge of the national side, culminating in a scoring debut for Italy in November 2003, against Poland. He went on to make the squad for {{Ec2|2004}}, scoring in two of Italy's three matches.
Controversy has continually trailed Cassano as his numerous spats with coaches at club and international level will attest. His relationship with former Roma coach
Fabio Capello was a fractious one - the pair fell out over Cassano's omission from a practice match days after his international debut - but Capello has himself since moved on to Juventus.
In the 2004/2005 Cassano's controversial behaviour became more notorious. After the resignation of
Cesare Prandelli for personal reasons, he quarrelled with replacement
Rudi Voeller for an entire month until Voeller resigned due to poor results.
On
31 December 2004, in a rare interview, he claimed to miss his former coach Fabio Capello, who Cassano considered to be "like a father".
He was ommitted from the squad for the remainder of the season by
Luigi Del Neri, who had become the third AS Roma coach during the season, before being replaced by
Bruno Conti after a disastrous season for the ''giallorossi''.
During the 2005/2006 pre-season, with Roma coached by former
Udinese Calcio Udinese trainer
Luciano Spalletti, Cassano was in constant conflict with the the club management over the renewal of his contract, which was due to expire on
30 June 2006. Many sports columnists speculated that Cassano would leave Roma to join his former coach Fabio Capello at Juventus, but he eventually joined
Real Madrid in
January 2006. His departure from Roma coincided with the club's spectacular recovery from poor early-season form. Roma's record-breaking winning streak of successive league and cup victories led to them rising from the relegation zone to being contenders for a
UEFA Champions League place.
He debuted for the ''merengues'' on
January 18, in a
Copa del Rey match against
Real Betis, and scored his first goal just three minutes after he came on during the second half. Failure to gain a regular place in the side led to reports that Madrid are seeking to offload him. However, despite reports appearing in the Madrid newspaper
El Pais about his continuing erratic behaviour and weight problems due to a weakness for chocolate and cakes, he managed to return to the side and score in Madrid's 2-1 win over city rivals
Atlético Madrid.
Trivia
*Cassano is nicknamed ''Peter Pan'', ''Fantantonio'', ''El Pibe de Bari'' (a clear reference to
Diego Maradona's nickname) and ''Il Gioiello di Bari Vecchia'' (the jewel of Old Bari).
*He wore the number 18 jersey during his time for AS Roma, whereas he currently wears the number 19 for the ''merengues'' - Real Madrid.
*The Italian
neologism ''cassanata'', with clear reference to Cassano himself, has been invented by his former coach Fabio Capello when in office with AS Roma, and then widely used by several national sports journalists to make reference to any behaviour considered to be uncompatible with team spirit in football.
*Cassano is reportedly only the second ever Italian player to play for Real Madrid: the first being
Christian Panucci, a former team mate of his when at AS Roma. This is something of a surprise to many people bearing in mind the historical importance and prowess of Italian footballers and the dominance of Real Madrid in European football.
External links
-
FootballDatabase provides Antonio Cassano's profile and stats
-
Antonio Cassano fans club
-
A nice video on Cassano
Category:Living people Cassano, Antonio
Category:1982 births Cassano, Antonio
Category:Natives of Bari Cassano, Antonio
Category:Italian footballers Cassano, Antonio
Category:A.S. Bari players Cassano, Antonio
Category:A.S. Roma players Cassano, Antonio
Category:Real Madrid footballers Cassano, Antonio
Category:La Liga footballers
Category:UEFA Euro 2004 players Cassano, Antonio
de:Antonio Cassano
et:Antonio Cassano
es:Antonio Cassano
fa:آنتونیو کاسانو
fr:Antonio Cassano
it:Antonio Cassano
he:×?× ×˜×•× ×™×• קס×?× ×•
nl:Antonio Cassano
ja:アントニオ・カッサーノ
pt:Antonio Cassano
sv:Antonio Cassano
zh:安东尼奥·��诺
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