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Top 10: Wasted talents
They should have been giants. Football Italia on the players who didn’t live up to their potential
10. Stefano Fiore
He may have won both the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia twice, but Fiore never truly realised the terrific potential he displayed in his early days at Udinese. Having flopped at Valencia, Torino, Livorno and even Serie B side Mantova, he is now consigned to the Lega Pro at the age of 34, with home town club Cosenza.
9. Arturo Lupoli
Along with Giuseppe Rossi he was supposed to be the future of La Nazionale. Instead Arturo Lupoli has flopped at Arsenal, Fiorentina, and a whole host of Championship sides, whilst Rossi has made the grade at Villarreal and earned caps with the Azzurri. Now at Ascoli, he’s running out of chances to prove his worth.
8. Marco Delvecchio
Delvecchio played a prominent role in Roma’s 2001 Scudetto win and earned 22 Italy caps. However, he gradually faded into the background at the Olimpico, and his career collapsed at an alarming rate with brief, disappointing spells at Brescia, Parma and Ascoli.
7. Luciano Re Cecconi
Unlike most others on this list Re Cecconi’s talent was wasted through no fault of his own. Known as ‘The Blond Angel’, his surreal demise came just three years after he helped Lazio to their 1973-74 Scudetto win – the first in the club’s history. The midfield general was shot whilst pretending to rob a Rome jewellers shop. His last words were: ‘It’s a joke’.
6. Francesco Coco
Tipped for greatness in his youth, Francesco Coco’s promise rapidly evaporated, and he retired aged just 30. The left-back spent time at Milan and Inter, but appeared more interested in the fame and fortune football brought rather than the game itself.
5. Paolo Rossi
Paolo Rossi will forever be the symbol of Italy’s 1982 World Cup triumph – which is just as well for him given his disappointing club career. The diminutive forward topped the Serie A and B scoring charts in consecutive seasons in his early days at Vicenza, but latterly flopped at Juventus and Milan, mustering a mere 30 goals in his last six Serie A seasons.
4. Adriano
Brute strength, samba style, Adriano was the perfect front man prospectively, but his fitness problems and reckless behaviour off the pitch constantly undermined him and eventually forced his separation from Inter. Back in Brazil with Flamengo and still aged just 27, the door has not shut on L’Emperatore yet, but he must start to realise his true potential soon.
3. Gigi Meroni
Gigi Meroni was the James Dean of calcio at the height of the swinging sixties. Despite the wing wizardry he exhibited at Genoa and Torino the Press paid more attention to his unconventional hairstyles and dress style. His life was tragically snatched from him at the age of 24 when he was knocked down by a car driven by Attilio Romero, ironically a huge fan of Meroni and future Torino President.
2. Antonio Cassano
Cassano’s career is far from over of course, but were it to end today he would surely go down as a momentous waste of talent – at club and international level. Irascible, unpredictable, yet incredibly talented, who knows what ‘The Golden Boy’ could have achieved if he had arrived at Real Madrid with the new found maturity he has shown at Sampdoria. Thankfully Fantonio still has time to win over Marcello Lippi and reach a club more in keeping with his ability.
1. Alvaro Recoba
The absolute epitome of wasted talent, the fact that El Chino is seeing out his career with Panionios is a tragic joke. Blessed with a deft touch and unrivalled imagination, Recoba seemed to lack the desire to perform consistently and become the legend he should have been at Inter. Scored 63 in 183 Nerazzurri appearances, but saved his best form for a brief loan spell at Venezia.
Words: Scott Fleming
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Don't agree with Delvecchio - he wasn't that talented anyway but he achieved alot at Roma plus the scored the winning goal in the Euro 2000 final. If anything, you could say he did very well for himself considering the talent he had.
Not sure about Fiore either. He did well with us, and with Fiorentina and Udinese. He did well on the NT aswell but was generally underused by Lippi and Trap. He only did poor at Torino, Livorno etc. because he was past it.
I think Morfeo would've been a good shout in this thread - when he was young he was meant to be as good as Totti or Del Piero. I also think some of the Atalanta players like Doni and C. Zenoni deserve a mention.
Recoba at number 1 is spot on. He had all the talent, just really lacked mentality and consistency.
They should have been giants. Football Italia on the players who didn’t live up to their potential
10. Stefano Fiore
He may have won both the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia twice, but Fiore never truly realised the terrific potential he displayed in his early days at Udinese. Having flopped at Valencia, Torino, Livorno and even Serie B side Mantova, he is now consigned to the Lega Pro at the age of 34, with home town club Cosenza.
9. Arturo Lupoli
Along with Giuseppe Rossi he was supposed to be the future of La Nazionale. Instead Arturo Lupoli has flopped at Arsenal, Fiorentina, and a whole host of Championship sides, whilst Rossi has made the grade at Villarreal and earned caps with the Azzurri. Now at Ascoli, he’s running out of chances to prove his worth.
8. Marco Delvecchio
Delvecchio played a prominent role in Roma’s 2001 Scudetto win and earned 22 Italy caps. However, he gradually faded into the background at the Olimpico, and his career collapsed at an alarming rate with brief, disappointing spells at Brescia, Parma and Ascoli.
7. Luciano Re Cecconi
Unlike most others on this list Re Cecconi’s talent was wasted through no fault of his own. Known as ‘The Blond Angel’, his surreal demise came just three years after he helped Lazio to their 1973-74 Scudetto win – the first in the club’s history. The midfield general was shot whilst pretending to rob a Rome jewellers shop. His last words were: ‘It’s a joke’.
6. Francesco Coco
Tipped for greatness in his youth, Francesco Coco’s promise rapidly evaporated, and he retired aged just 30. The left-back spent time at Milan and Inter, but appeared more interested in the fame and fortune football brought rather than the game itself.
5. Paolo Rossi
Paolo Rossi will forever be the symbol of Italy’s 1982 World Cup triumph – which is just as well for him given his disappointing club career. The diminutive forward topped the Serie A and B scoring charts in consecutive seasons in his early days at Vicenza, but latterly flopped at Juventus and Milan, mustering a mere 30 goals in his last six Serie A seasons.
4. Adriano
Brute strength, samba style, Adriano was the perfect front man prospectively, but his fitness problems and reckless behaviour off the pitch constantly undermined him and eventually forced his separation from Inter. Back in Brazil with Flamengo and still aged just 27, the door has not shut on L’Emperatore yet, but he must start to realise his true potential soon.
3. Gigi Meroni
Gigi Meroni was the James Dean of calcio at the height of the swinging sixties. Despite the wing wizardry he exhibited at Genoa and Torino the Press paid more attention to his unconventional hairstyles and dress style. His life was tragically snatched from him at the age of 24 when he was knocked down by a car driven by Attilio Romero, ironically a huge fan of Meroni and future Torino President.
2. Antonio Cassano
Cassano’s career is far from over of course, but were it to end today he would surely go down as a momentous waste of talent – at club and international level. Irascible, unpredictable, yet incredibly talented, who knows what ‘The Golden Boy’ could have achieved if he had arrived at Real Madrid with the new found maturity he has shown at Sampdoria. Thankfully Fantonio still has time to win over Marcello Lippi and reach a club more in keeping with his ability.
1. Alvaro Recoba
The absolute epitome of wasted talent, the fact that El Chino is seeing out his career with Panionios is a tragic joke. Blessed with a deft touch and unrivalled imagination, Recoba seemed to lack the desire to perform consistently and become the legend he should have been at Inter. Scored 63 in 183 Nerazzurri appearances, but saved his best form for a brief loan spell at Venezia.
Words: Scott Fleming
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Don't agree with Delvecchio - he wasn't that talented anyway but he achieved alot at Roma plus the scored the winning goal in the Euro 2000 final. If anything, you could say he did very well for himself considering the talent he had.
Not sure about Fiore either. He did well with us, and with Fiorentina and Udinese. He did well on the NT aswell but was generally underused by Lippi and Trap. He only did poor at Torino, Livorno etc. because he was past it.
I think Morfeo would've been a good shout in this thread - when he was young he was meant to be as good as Totti or Del Piero. I also think some of the Atalanta players like Doni and C. Zenoni deserve a mention.
Recoba at number 1 is spot on. He had all the talent, just really lacked mentality and consistency.
.