Does Antonio Cassano Deserve a Place in Italy’s World Cup Squad?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: March 18, 2014

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Antonio Cassano knows where he wants to be this summer. He spent the last one relaxing on a beach (source in Italian) with his wife Carolina and their two sons Christopher and Lionel, but this year he has grander ambitions in mind. The Parma forward has his heart set on a trip to Brazil, where he hopes to make his first-ever World Cup appearance for Italy, per Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian).  

It is remarkable to think that he has never taken part in such a tournament before. Cassano was, and still is, one of the most naturally gifted footballers of his generation, a forward of such extraordinary talent that Roma saw fit to invest 60 billion Lira (roughly £18 million) in acquiring him from Bari back in 2001, when he was still just 19 years old.



Such investment almost seemed modest after seeing the goal he had scored against Inter to open his Serie A account two years earlier. Making his first-ever start as a senior professional, Cassano sealed an upset victory for Bari when he controlled a 40-yard pass on his heel without breaking stride, flicked the ball over his own head, and beat two defenders before burying the ball into the near corner of the net. 

Talent will only get you so far, though, without an accompanying work ethic. We know now that Cassano would never fully live up to his potential, distracted too often by food, women or both. He boasted infamously in his 2008 autobiography of having slept with “600-700 women,” and detailed how, after being sold by Roma to Real Madrid in 2006, he befriended a waiter at the team’s hotel who would smuggle in ladies and pastries. 

And then there were the "Cassanate"—the Cassano-isms—a term invented by then-Roma coach Fabio Capello to describe his forward’s various meltdowns. The player walked out of practice three times in a single season back at Roma, and has thrown many well-d...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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