Mario
30 Jul 2003, 05:21 AM
It seems apt that a port city should be the venue for some serious acts of international salvage. After five years hard labour in Serie B Sampdoria, from Genoa on the northwest coast of Italy, are back in the top flight of Italian football. Consequently they have spent the summer preparing, re-building and squad strengthening; and they have done it brilliantly. Through design and with a keen eye on the finances, Samp have become the rescue blues - offering another chance to a handful of Serie A's lost souls. They have pursued and signed skilled players with plenty to prove, reasoning that in striving to reignite their careers these men will keep them in Serie A. It's audacious and admirable; and you can't help hoping it pays off.
The three key figures grasping the career lifeline offered by the Genoese side are Massimo Marazzina, Cristiano Doni and Cristian Zenoni; Italian internationals who have fallen out of favour. Doni was the star of Serie A just two seasons ago, turning in a series of inspirational performances that won him a place in the Italian squad for the 2002 World Cup finals. Marazzina scored thirteen goals in Serie A for Chievo Verona during the 2001/2002 season to win his call-up to the Azzurri. Zenoni, a product of the impressive Atalanta youth system, was one of the most exciting defenders of his generation, securing a move to Juventus, via Milan.
Since then all three careers have been cased in ice. Marazzina fell out with his coach at Chievo, went to Roma and barely played. Zenoni failed to win Marcello Lippi's confidence at Juve (Lippi prefers veterans in his back four), while Doni just suffered a slump in form at Atalanta, as the team struggled. All three players are good enough to make the Italian squad for Euro 2004, provided they have brilliant seasons with Sampdoria. It's no coincidence that all three have been signed on a year's loan.
While the Azzurri triumvirate represent the most obvious example of Samp's rescue policy, the idea runs right through their summer signings. No player has been purchased merely because he's out of contract and can do a job. For example, Massimo Donati is a young Milan misfit who looked on the verge of a regular place with the Rossoneri but went out on loan, first to Parma then to Torino. He arrives at Samp for a third loan spell with Milan still unsure on his potential. Joseph-Desire Job was the next great Cameroon star at 18, but left France to become a bit-part player at Middlesbrough. While for Japanese striker Atsushi Yanagisawa the precedents and avenues are obvious. He could become an integral part of his new team, like Shinji Ono at Feyenoord, or a shirt seller and bench warmer like Kazuyuki Toda at Tottenham.
Add to these signings Francesco Antonioli, a goalkeeper who won the league with Roma in 2001 but was cast out by the club in the summer, and Sampdoria have a squad brimming with rejection, desperation and spite; three deep wells to draw motivation from. The deal being struck between coach Walter Novellino and his new charges is simple enough - save your careers and propel us up the table in the process.
All this is in contrast to the standard approach taken by newly promoted sides in Italy. Battle-hardened mercenaries for hire in defence, journeymen midfielders, foreign players none of the big clubs wanted, aging strikers worth ten goals a season - these are the markets the new clubs traditionally deal in.
Sampdoria clearly think differently. While Novellino tries to insist the sole aim is survival, the dreams are creeping in. Novellino's previous two coaching assignments in Serie A - with Piacenza and Venezia - ended in relegation at the first attempt, so he could be forgiven an air of caution. However, before a ball had been kicked he could be found saying: "There are only six or seven teams in Serie A which are ahead of us...We can beat anyone on our day."
Such belief in the club's buoyancy could be naive, or it could be derived from the fact that Sampdoria are unique. A product of a garrulous, gritty and pretty place, they arrive with as much interest in their history as their future. Serie A winners in 1991 with a wonderful team lead by Luca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, they provoke nostalgic memories of Italian football directly after the 1990 World Cup, before Bosman, before doping scandals, before dodgy passports and financial self-destruction.
Consequently, much of Italy will be happy to see Samp back in Serie A and the comparisons, the archive footage and the memories will all be dusted off and neatly repackaged. However, don't expect that to count for much. Regardless of the pressure from media, Novellino and his team will not live in the past. This is the new Samp: everything to play for, everything to prove. They might just be the revelation of the season.
The three key figures grasping the career lifeline offered by the Genoese side are Massimo Marazzina, Cristiano Doni and Cristian Zenoni; Italian internationals who have fallen out of favour. Doni was the star of Serie A just two seasons ago, turning in a series of inspirational performances that won him a place in the Italian squad for the 2002 World Cup finals. Marazzina scored thirteen goals in Serie A for Chievo Verona during the 2001/2002 season to win his call-up to the Azzurri. Zenoni, a product of the impressive Atalanta youth system, was one of the most exciting defenders of his generation, securing a move to Juventus, via Milan.
Since then all three careers have been cased in ice. Marazzina fell out with his coach at Chievo, went to Roma and barely played. Zenoni failed to win Marcello Lippi's confidence at Juve (Lippi prefers veterans in his back four), while Doni just suffered a slump in form at Atalanta, as the team struggled. All three players are good enough to make the Italian squad for Euro 2004, provided they have brilliant seasons with Sampdoria. It's no coincidence that all three have been signed on a year's loan.
While the Azzurri triumvirate represent the most obvious example of Samp's rescue policy, the idea runs right through their summer signings. No player has been purchased merely because he's out of contract and can do a job. For example, Massimo Donati is a young Milan misfit who looked on the verge of a regular place with the Rossoneri but went out on loan, first to Parma then to Torino. He arrives at Samp for a third loan spell with Milan still unsure on his potential. Joseph-Desire Job was the next great Cameroon star at 18, but left France to become a bit-part player at Middlesbrough. While for Japanese striker Atsushi Yanagisawa the precedents and avenues are obvious. He could become an integral part of his new team, like Shinji Ono at Feyenoord, or a shirt seller and bench warmer like Kazuyuki Toda at Tottenham.
Add to these signings Francesco Antonioli, a goalkeeper who won the league with Roma in 2001 but was cast out by the club in the summer, and Sampdoria have a squad brimming with rejection, desperation and spite; three deep wells to draw motivation from. The deal being struck between coach Walter Novellino and his new charges is simple enough - save your careers and propel us up the table in the process.
All this is in contrast to the standard approach taken by newly promoted sides in Italy. Battle-hardened mercenaries for hire in defence, journeymen midfielders, foreign players none of the big clubs wanted, aging strikers worth ten goals a season - these are the markets the new clubs traditionally deal in.
Sampdoria clearly think differently. While Novellino tries to insist the sole aim is survival, the dreams are creeping in. Novellino's previous two coaching assignments in Serie A - with Piacenza and Venezia - ended in relegation at the first attempt, so he could be forgiven an air of caution. However, before a ball had been kicked he could be found saying: "There are only six or seven teams in Serie A which are ahead of us...We can beat anyone on our day."
Such belief in the club's buoyancy could be naive, or it could be derived from the fact that Sampdoria are unique. A product of a garrulous, gritty and pretty place, they arrive with as much interest in their history as their future. Serie A winners in 1991 with a wonderful team lead by Luca Vialli and Roberto Mancini, they provoke nostalgic memories of Italian football directly after the 1990 World Cup, before Bosman, before doping scandals, before dodgy passports and financial self-destruction.
Consequently, much of Italy will be happy to see Samp back in Serie A and the comparisons, the archive footage and the memories will all be dusted off and neatly repackaged. However, don't expect that to count for much. Regardless of the pressure from media, Novellino and his team will not live in the past. This is the new Samp: everything to play for, everything to prove. They might just be the revelation of the season.