Vincenzo Sarno

Vincenzo Sarno
Sarno in October 2018.
Personnel
birthday	March 11, 1988
place of birth	Naples ,  Italy
size	1.67 m
position	midfield
Juniors
Years	station
1999-2002	ASD Real Gaetano Scirea
2002-2005	AS Roma
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
2005-2007	AC Sangiovannese 1927	24 0(1)
2007	→  Giulianova Calcio  (loan)	14 0(0)
2008	Brescia Calcio	2 0(0)
2008-2009	Potenza SC	22 0(1)
2009-2011	Aurora Pro Patria	42 0(7)
2011-2013	Reggina Calcio	34 0(1)
2012	→  SS Virtus Lanciano  (loan)	11 0(0)
2013-2014	Virtus Entella	21 0(1)
2014-2018	Foggia Calcio	101 (33)
2018-2019	Calcio Padova	15 0(0)
2019–	Catania Calcio	17 0(3)
1 Only league games are given. As of October 11, 2019

Vincenzo Sarno (born March 11, 1988 in Naples ) is an Italian football player . In 1999 and 2000 he was considered to be the greatest young talent in world football and many sports newspapers celebrated him as the “Baby Maradona ”.

Private life

Sarno grew up in poor conditions in the Neapolitan district of Secondigliano . His father Ernesto (* 1958) was unemployed when Vincenzo's talent was discovered and occasionally helped out in the bar of the local football club. Sarno had three siblings. The youngest brother Emanuele (* 1995) suffered from Down syndrome and died of leukemia in early February 2010 . At the end of 2013, Sarno lived in Casalnuovo di Napoli .

Athletic career

The child prodigy and beginnings

See also : child prodigy

His talent was noticed when he received the Golden Ball for best player at the annual Torneo di Natale (Christmas tournament), the most important youth tournament in Campania , in December 1998 for his elegant virtuosity and ball handling . He was accepted at the renowned football school Gaetano Scirea in the Neapolitan district of Secondigliano and played for the affiliated club. Gaetano Mosca, the head of the institute, acted as Sarnos advisor and manager. He also held all image and marketing rights until he was of legal age. Numerous well-known clubs courted Sarno as a result - including AC Parma , FC Empoli , Atalanta Bergamo and Coventry City from England . The contract was finally awarded to FC Turin in spring 1999 , which allegedly had to pay around 60,000 euros to the player's parents. This case brought Sarno into the focus of an international media audience; even CBS in the United States reported it. According to the statutes of the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio , players are only allowed to play in the professional field from the age of 16. For this reason, it is not uncommon for clubs to scout fifteen-year- olds so that they can develop into very good players in their own youth department. The fact that such a young player like Sarno was signed, however, sparked not only enthusiasm for his football skills but also controversial discussions. Although the family moved to Turin , a transfer never took place, as the club canceled the contract two months later. One functionary gave the reason that “the father always wanted money”.

At the age of 14, Sarno was signed by AS Roma in October 2002 . He trained in the famous Centro sportivo Fulvio Bernardini in Trigoria and played in the club's youth teams for three years. He managed to hone his football skills and in December 2003 Peter Leonardi, the then youth and youth coordinator of Juventus Turin , said that Sarno could be "the future Miccoli of Italian football". Allegedly, the signing of the contract with AS Roma brought the family around 158,000 euros. The amount would have increased significantly if Sarno had also been used in the higher-class teams.

Further career

However, he left AS Roma in October 2005 and moved to the then third-class AC Sangiovannese from San Giovanni Valdarno . He made his debut there two months later when he was substituted on for the last minutes of the game against ASD Torres Calcio . However, he found difficult connection to the team and agreed in February 2007 a loan to league rivals Giulianova Calcio . Although Sarno performed well there, he came back to San Giovanni Valdarno in the first half of the 2007/08 season only to five appearances and left the club in December 2007 by mutual agreement. In January 2008 he accepted an offer from the second division side Brescia Calcio . After only two considerations in the second half of the season, he was released at the end of the season and he signed a contract with Potenza SC in October 2008 - and thus ran again in the third division. After a season, another club change to league rivals Aurora Pro Patria followed in July 2009 . There Sarno finally managed to use his potential and he developed into a key player in the team. However , he could not prevent the descent at the end of the 2009/10 season in the fourth-class Lega Pro Seconda Divisione . Although he promised to play for another year for the club, but when Aurora Pro Patria could no longer pay his salary due to financial difficulties, he canceled his contracts in July 2011.

In the same month he was signed by Reggina Calcio until June 30, 2013 and has since played in Serie B again . However, he could not initially prevail in the team and was therefore loaned to the third division SS Virtus Lanciano in early 2012 . He quickly managed to establish himself there. The club finished the season 2011/2012 on the fourth place and thus took part in the Relegation - Play-off -Play to series B in part. In the semi -final second leg against US Siracusa there , Sarno scored the goal to lead 1-0 on May 27, 2012 - the final score was 2-2. Overall, however, Lanciano won 3-2 and moved into the final against Trapani Calcio . After a 1-1 draw in the first leg, Sarno's team won the second leg on June 10 3-1; he himself scored the goal for a 2-1 lead. He made a significant contribution to the team's promotion to Serie B. After the end of the season he returned to Reggina. On October 27, 2012, he scored his first and only goal for Reggina with the opening goal in the 2-0 win against Ascoli Calcio . A transfer was up for discussion in January, allegedly Brescia Calcio and AC Chievo Verona , a Serie A club, were interested for the first time .

Overall, Sarno showed convincing performances during his time in Calabria , but there was no contract extension, so that he had been without a club since the end of his contract (July 1, 2013). At the beginning of August, he was brought into contact with Carpi FC , who also played in Serie B and offered him a two-year contract. Since September 9, 2013 he played for the third division Virtus Entella , with whom he rose to Serie B at the end of the season . However, he had no opportunity to prove himself again in the second-highest division, but signed a two-year contract with Foggia Calcio from the third- tier Lega Pro (later called Serie C ) in early September 2014 .

With this team from Apulia he played his way into the regular formation, became one of the most important performers and played over 100 games in which he scored over 30 goals. Together with his strike partner Pietro Iemmello , he formed the most dangerous attack in the third division. In May 2017 he rose to the second-rate Serie B with Foggia Calcio . In addition, they won the Coppa Italia Serie C 2015/16 against AS Cittadella . At the beginning of the 2017/18 season, Sarno was no longer included in the squad and offered for sale by the club. However, he turned down several offers from clubs from Serie C because he wants to prevail in Serie B and play games there.

In mid-January 2018, Sarno signed a contract with third division team Calcio Padova that ran until June 2020 .

National team

Sarno played for the semi-professional Italian Lega Pro U-21 national team, which consists of players from the Lega Pro Prima Divisione and the Lega Pro Seconda Divisione . With the team he took part in the International Challenge Trophy 2007-2009 . On November 14, 2007 he was involved in the group game against Wales with two goals in the 4-2 victory of the Italians at the Vares stadium Franco Ossola and was named "Man of the Match".

successes

• Coppa Italia Serie C : 2015/16

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} Rose-Marie Borngässer: Vincenzo plays like Maradona's son . On February 1, 1999 in Die Welt . Retrieved from welt.de on May 28, 2016 (in German).
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Charlie Hanger: 12-year-old is on verge of signing soccer contract . July 29, 2000 in The New York Times . Retrieved from nytimes.com on May 28, 2016 (in English).
3. ^ Giovanni Toia: Pro, Sarno fa tremare il Novara "Sentivo che avrei segnato" . On February 22nd, 2010 in La Provincia di Varese . Retrieved from laprovinciadivarese.it on May 28, 2016 (in Italian).
4. ↑ Match report for the game between Aurora Pro Patria and Paganese Calcio 1926 on February 7, 2010. Retrieved from bustocco.it on May 28, 2016 (in Italian).
5. ↑ Match report for the game between Aurora Pro Patria and Paganese Calcio 1926 on February 7, 2010. Retrieved from varesenews.it on May 28, 2016 (in Italian).
6. ↑ Davide Russo de Cerame: Vincenzo Sarno, il bambino prodigio che fa magie in Lega Pro e sogna il Napoli . On December 13, 2013 on calciomercato.com . Retrieved May 28, 2016 (in Italian).
7. ^ Andrea Pugliese: Newspaper article about Vincenzo Sarno. On December 29, 2003 in La Gazzetta dello Sport . Retrieved from campionatoprimavera.com on May 28, 2016 (in Italian).
8. ↑ ^{a b c} Stefano Rizzato: Vincenzo Sarno, l'ex piccolo Maradona rimasto senza squadra . On September 6, 2013 on sport.sky.it ( Sky ). Retrieved May 28, 2016 (in Italian).
9. ^ Foggia vince, ma qualcuno ha perso il sorriso… .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On October 14, 2017 on ilposticipo.it . Retrieved October 29, 2017 (in Italian).  

Web links

• Vincenzo Sarno in the database of weltfussball.de
• Vincenzo Sarno in the database of transfermarkt.de