Marco Amelia - 24, and today he is the youngest main goalkeeper in the league traditionally proud of goalkeepers. By the standards of Series A, this age is completely young, still in service are 39-year-old Bally (Empoli), Fontana (Palermo), Bucci (Parma), Berti (Sampdoria) and a 40-year-old Paliuca (Ascoli). It is Paliuca who believes that Amelia is Italy's new hope, which is experiencing a serious shortage of young goalkeepers.
Marco was born in the small town of Frascati, 20 kilometers from Rome. At 10, he was spotted by the Roma coach, who helped the boy get into the Roma youth football system. Until his debut as a member of the Italian national team U-15 in March 1998 at a tournament in France (where the young Azzurri took 4th place, losing in the semi-finals of the Cameroon team), Marco's parents accompanied his son every day for training and matches in Trigoria. In the youth team, Amelia was constantly worried that he was the shortest in growth. Marco compensated for the lack of fanatic work and became the main goalkeeper of the reserve team. However, Fabio Capello, even when the main goalkeepers of “Roma” were injured, Amelia did not give special chances. Realizing that the young goalkeeper needs to develop, Capello gave the green light to his Livorno move. There, Amelia did not immediately play, but in the season 02/03, under the full confidence of the current coach of the Italian national team, Roberto Donadoni, Amelia played 35 matches for Livorno. Goalkeeper's game impressed Italy so much that a whole line lined up for him. However, after a not very successful lease at Lecce and Parma, Amelia returned to Livorno, who bought his transfer from Roma.
From that moment, Amelia’s career went uphill. 2004 turned out to be just fantastic for him. The young goalkeeper helped beginners in Serie A gain a foothold in the elite. In the youth team, he won the European Championship, and in the Olympic team - bronze medals in Athens.
At the start of last season, Amelia kept his goal intact for more than 500 minutes, and the reward for such a game was a trip to the World Cup as the third goalkeeper after Buffon and Peruzzi. After the latter announced his retirement, it was Amelia who is perceived in Italy as the main heir to Buffon. And given the fact that Buffon is currently playing in series B, it is not surprising that the authoritative website keepersport.it (dedicated to Italian goalkeepers) considers Amelia the best goalkeeper in series A.
At the end of 2006, Amelia signed a new contract with Livorno, but according to an interview with club president Aldo Spineli and Marco himself, it is clear that this was done only to increase the transfer cost of a promising goalkeeper. Its sales cannot be avoided. Livorno announced an amount of 10 million euros, and this price so far has largely deterred buyers. Among those flashed and Arsenal, and Liverpool, and Milan. But for the Moscow Spartak with the financial capabilities of LUKOIL, this amount, it is possible, may become acceptable, given the urgent need to strengthen the goalkeeper line. Talk about the departure of the Pole Kovalevsky this summer is more and more like the truth.
Marco himself clearly wants to go to a superclub, but the situation is such that some of these clubs are not ready to pay the requested price today, and some do not have an acute need for goalkeepers. This is the chance of Spartak.
The other day, Amelia, in a fit of feelings for the club that raised him, said that he was "ready to play for his native Roma for free." However, it is precisely at Roma, with its meager transfer budget, that there is the least chance of getting Amelia today.
Ivan MAKAROV
SportsBAR
Conference of Ivan Makarov about the site SPORT today