Ask me about Marco Delvecchio

"A parallel dimension or parallel universe (also parallel reality, alternative universe, alternate dimension or alternate reality) is a hypothetical universe separated and distinct from ours but coexisting with it; in most cases imagined it is identifiable with another space-time continuum. The set of all possible parallel universes is called multiverse." (Source Wikipedia)

You could legitimately ask yourself why I'm talking about parallel universes or parallel dimensions, well it's simple and I'll explain it to you:

Let's go back in time and precisely to July 2nd, 2000 at 20:00, Feijenoord Stadion of Rotterdam, Netherlands;
The final of the European championship between France and Italy is about to begin. On the pitch, the Italian National Team took to the field with an attack on 2/3 of the Roma trident, Francesco Totti and Marco Delvecchio. After a first half where we suffered any at the 55th of the second half a miracle happened: the ball is on the right wing, Totti gives a ball to Pessotto in an offensive propensity with a stroke you heel genius unmarked, the Juve fullback does not think a second and from the first he puts in the middle with a tense cross in the small area where Delvecchio on the fly with a pot of left, puts it behind Barthez for the 1-0 Italy.

 

The Italian National Team is holding out, Del Piero devours twice the possible 2-0 that would have probably ended the game and consequently the European championship in our favor but in the dimension in which we find ourselves now it does not matter because in the parallel universe that we live, the referee Anders Frisk gives only 2 minutes of recovery and the game ends 1-0 for Italy. To mark the goal that gives the Azzurri the second European championship in our history, the hero of the final and the one who will remain forever imprinted in the collective memory is Marco Delvecchio.

Unfortunately we all know how it went: the referee Frisk will grant 4 minutes of recovery and first Wiltord at the 93rd brings the match to extra time and then Trezeguet condemns us with that damned Golden Gol on 103 '; among other things, a beautiful goal, inside the area on the fly after bouncing it on the ground in half-upside down, puts it at the crest where Toldo can never arrive.
A terrible disappointment:

"The worst moment of my career, second only to the last match with Roma's jersey. We paid our luck in the semifinals with the Netherlands, where they missed the unbelievable. In the final we knew that after Wiltord's draw came in that way, at the last second, it would not have been possible to win."

Marco, however, did his job in the final one because Marco was a goal by profession.

Delvecchio is a "Roman born in Milan" as he has always declared, growing up in the youth of Inter where the president Massimo Moratti keeps him in strong consideration:

"I have wonderful memories of Inter. I will never forget my debut in the Italian Cup against Juve. I was in Viareggio and they called me to play with champions of the caliber of Matthäus and Brehme. I was fine: Moratti considered me fundamental and told me I was incedibile, that I had to lend a hand to make to set the new companions."

And instead Marco will not stay at Inter, he will be loaned to Roma for Marco Branca's card. The news arrives to him while he is in training with the Under-21 National Team; disappointment and disbelief, what should have become a staple of Inter are sent on loan without too many explanations.
He arrives in a team that already has Abel Balbo, Daniel Fonseca, and Francesco Totti in the beginning. His early years in Rome are difficult, he doesn't play with continuity but above all the fans don't love him, on the contrary. Marco is booed every time he sets foot on the pitch because in Rome they wanted Batistuta (who later arrived years later) but will know how to take his revenge.

The perfect antithesis of the divo player: unaesthetic, that his almost awkward, that long, uncombed hair, was clumsy. Yes, but it was very strong. Player versatility; Marco was flying on that band and was always throwing it in, changing his way of being on the pitch compared to what the team needed. Dirty work, self-sacrifice, tenacity and many goals - especially in the derbies - have made Marco Delvecchio an undisputed and unforgettable idol of that same fan base that whistled for no reason.

"The gesture that was born a bit as a challenge to the fans, because they didn't appreciate the fact that I played in the place of the hypothetical point that was supposed to arrive. The whistles seemed unfair to me, it wasn't my fault if no one had arrived. a clarification with the fans in Trigoria has become the symbol of my exultation, no longer to hear the whistles but the joy of the fans."

March 13th, 1999, Roma-Bologna. Marco scores a goal in the 10th minute and beats Antonioli. Exultation is immediate and intense: the hands are brought to the ears. He wants to listen, he wants to hear those whistles turning into applause, he wants to make everyone understand that he is there to do his job and he knows how to do it very well. From that day on it will become his trademark.

Marco is the "derby man" par excellence. No one like him has recorded on the derby della capitale:

"Entering the stadium before the derby has always given me a unique charge: seeing the stands full and enthusiasm, listening to the choirs are emotions that can transform your preparation for the game."

In the 98/99 season, Delvecchio is the owner of Zeman's Roma team that includes a trident that also includes Totti and Paulo Sergio. Marco closes that season with 18 goals becoming the best Giallorossi seasonal striker. It was in that season that his "love" relationship began with the derby: April 11 marked a double in the famous derby of Totti's t-shirt "I purged you again". The first goal is a dazzling beauty, flown from the half-feigned "hook" field on Mihajlović and elusive left-handed bomb.

"The fake hook easier and you can always succeed, if the defender does not take the movement throws, if it goes in slipped move the ball and overcome it. You just have to be good to understand the moment."

 "I kicked in a powerful way, perhaps the strongest shot of my career, Marchegiani couldn't do anything about it."

The arrival of Fabio Capello on the bench changes things. Comes the attacker so wanted by the Giallorossi fans, Batistuta. Marco would like to go away, there is Chelsea looking for him but Don Fabio holds him back, the first year the starting spot is Montella and he plays less but the following year, that of the third championship, Capello directs him to the band to exploit its devastating speed. The trident of Rome is Totti-Batistuta-Delvecchio with Montella ready to enter from the bench. That year Marco does not score much, there are only 3 goals in the league but guess who scored it? Obviously to Lazio in a match that will end 2-2: the double advantage of Roma reached by goals from Nedved and Castroman. Delvecchio gave the assist for Batistuta's first goal and then made a sensational one on the fly on a crazy shot by Cristiano Zanetti.

 

The last goal in a Marco derby marks her on October 27th, 2002 and is a beautiful goal. Emerson launch, chest stop to follow fake hook on Nesta that goes to the ground and goal from the right, a masterpiece, always concluded in the same way: with hands to ears to listen once again to those whistles turned into applause.

 

 

Marco will leave Rome in January 2005 after 300 games and 83 goals. He will go to Brescia, then to Parma and finally to Ascoli closing his career with the Pescatori Ostia jersey in Eccellenza.

"We were a united team in the field, but it is not true that we cannot win with a group that only gets along on the green lawn. Outside the field, we did not see each other at all. There were four groups, two composed of Italians, that of the Argentines and that of the Brazilians. Still today, however, I feel with the companions to whom I am more attached."

Eclectic on and off the pitch. In 2012 Marco participated in Ballando con le stelle on RaiUno paired with Sara Di Vaira coming second but showing coordination and skill that no one expected; a bit the story of his life that reflects that of the ugly duckling that becomes a swan.