As La Stampa tells us, a few weeks before the world play-offs at the end of March, Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso is traveling the country to observe his players and try to build a future at the Nazionale. However, one poster will be deliberately missing from his agenda: Como–Torino. Not out of sporting disinterest, but because it is the most “foreign” meeting in all of Serie A, a symbol of a deep evil in Italian football.
Como and Torino are real “Babel teams”. The Lombards have 24 foreign players in their squad, the Garnets 27, with only three Italians on each side. Worse still, these two clubs are in the European top 10 of those who use the fewest national players. Como coached by Cesc Fabregas displays an astonishing figure: 0% of minutes played by Italians. In 21 matches, only Goldaniga appeared… for one minute, in added time, a statistically insignificant detail.
Torino is not doing much better with 14% of Italian minutes, a figure comparable to that of English clubs or teams like Leverkusen and Marseille. A real slap in the face for the history and granata tradition, once founded on a strong national core. This Como–Toro could also see only two Italians on the field, Paleari and Casadei, setting a sad record for Serie A.
This situation is the logical outcome of long years of xenophilia, which caused the French presence to fall to around 30% in the championship. Fabregas admitted this bluntly: “Between a young Spaniard and an Italian, I always take the Italian… but you don’t have one. »
In Turin, the loss of Ricci, the possible departure of Biraghi and the scarcity of Italian starters accentuate the identity crisis. Sports director Petrachi now wants to reverse the trend, by focusing on young people and rebuilding a tricolor core. But the work is immense. Before finding a soul, the Toro must first survive this delicate match, mirror of a crisis which goes far beyond simple sporting results.
Worth a look
