“Im the greatest talent in years to have thrown everything away.” Describes Antonio Cassano pretty perfectly, a maverick, immensely talented, a live wire, disruptive, and as a fan somebody you’d love to hate if he was at your club.
Cassano had a tough childhood, his father wasn’t around and he and is mother didn’t have enough money to get by. As a youngster on the streets of Bari, he would bet on himself against older kids to make sure he had enough money to for a meal. It was there a scout for Bari noticed him and he was signed up to their youth system.
He made his debut for Bari at 17 against Lecce, he scored a last minute winner against Inter Milan, a game and a goal that he credits in his autobiography that kept him on the right side of the law. “If it wasn’t for the Inter game, I would have become a thief, or worse, either way a delinquent, the game my talent shone and it took me away from a life of potential shit.”
After two years at Bari he left for Roma in a deal worth 60bn Lire (€30 million) after 5 years with Roma, 118 games and 39 goals under his belt, a contract dispute saw him sign for Real Madrid in a €5 million transfer.
Disastrous would be an understatement, his stereotypical playboy lifestyle of parties and women accompanied a large weight gain, he was fined for every gram he was over his playing weight. In his second season with Madrid he was reunited with Fabio Capello who he’d fallen out with at Roma, less than a year into Capello’s reign he was suspended by Madrid, he also missed the 2006 World Cup in Germany, a tournament that Italy won, although he does regret not seizing his chance at Madrid. “The biggest regret is not making the most of the opportunity to play for the biggest club in history, with teammates like Zinedine Zidane, I threw away a huge chance at Real Madrid, I was effectively replacing Luis Figo and Michael Owen so I was good but caused disaster and disaster, Capello arrived at Real, I’d lost 16kg in training, scored two goals in 3 games and was benched for the 4th, I lost my mind and when you disrespect Capello, he cuts you out. He gave me another chance even after all that I did precious little for him in return.”
He was loaned to Sampdoria, where in 2008 after being sent off against Torino he threw his shirt at the referee, was fined €15,000 and was given a 5 match ban, Sampdoria signed him on a free transfer after his contract from Real had expired, after yet more fall outs, this time with the Sampdoria chairman after refusing to attend the clubs annual awards night, that proved to be the final straw and he was sold to Ac Milan for €3 million.
In two years with Ac Milan where he barely got a look in, playing behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Alexandre Pato. In 2011 after a game with Roma he suffered a stroke, and had to have heart surgery, but 5 months later he returned to the Milan side in a loss to Fiorentina.
In a shock to absolutely nobody he ended up being in the headlines for the wrong reasons after making a balls up of a press conference after he was asked about the possibility of any homosexual players being in the squad he said “I hope there are none” another €15,000 fine this time from UEFA, that aside Cassano had a good tournament but Italy ultimately lost 4-0 to Spain in the final.
He was part of the Italian squad for the 2012 euros, as part of a front two with fellow looney Mario Balotelli, those two together would have made for a quiet night in the library – not. (Gareth from the office meme)
AC Milan then offloaded him to rivals Inter as AC were forced to clear tanks with a host of stars of stars being sold off, including Zlatan Ibrahimovic, another one season wonder for Cassano, who in a shock to nobody fell out with then manger Andrea Stramaccioni, so Inter got shot to Parma, 12 goals and 8 assists in his second season with Parma before his contract was terminated after he and the rest of the squad went months without being paid and Parma ultimately folded.
For reasons unknown Sampdoria took him back for a season but 2 goals in 25 games saw him released in 2017.
Now 34 Cassano signed with Hellas Verona, he played in two friendly games but after 17 days said fuck this and retired. A year later he was training with Serie C side Virtus Entella, but again said fuck this and retired for a second time.
A proper what if player, if only he’d done things differently who knows what he could have achieved in his career, talent coming out of his arse, but an absolute looney, a very entertaining career none the less.
Cheers, The Fat Man
Fat Lad Sports 