Antonio Cassano - Biography

Last Editor: sigurd.vogler				Antonio Cassano Biography -   Name : Antonio Cassano Date of Birth : February 12, 1982 Place of Birth : Bari, Italy Nationality : Italian Height : 178 cm Weight : 71 kg Profession : Soccer Player Club : Real Madrid CF Position : Forward [L, C]

Antonio Cassano Trivia -

Cassano is nicknamed Peter Pan, Fantantonio, El Pibe de Bari (a clear reference to Diego Maradona's nickname) and Il Gioiello di Bari Vecchia (the jewel of Old Bari). He wore the number 18 jersey during his time for AS Roma, whereas he currently wears the number 19 for the merengues - Real Madrid. The Italian neologism cassanata, with clear reference to Cassano himself, has been invented by his former coach Fabio Capello when in office with AS Roma, and then widely used by several national sports journalists to make reference to any behaviour considered to be uncompatible with team spirit in football. Cassano is reportedly only the second ever Italian player to play for Real Madrid: the first being Christian Panucci, a former team mate of his when at AS Roma. This is something of a surprise to many people baring in mind the historical importance and prowess of Italian footballers and the dominance of Real Madrid in European football.

Antonio Cassano Detailed Biography -

Antonio Cassano (born July 12, 1982 in Bari) is an Italian football player who plays for club side Real Madrid and the Italian national team. He plays primarily as a striker or in the hole (Italian: fantasista or trequartista). Cassano grew up poor in the old section of Bari. As a child, he always played soccer in the streets of Bari and was picked up by a Bari scout and brought up through the AS Bari youth system. Cassano made his Italian league debut in 1999 for Bari against local rivals Lecce, and a week later scored a superb goal against Inter Milan, one of the clubs who had courted Cassano before he had eventually signed professionally with his hometown club. The top clubs in Italy each kept a close eye on Cassano, and with rumours of a pre-contract agreement having been signed with Roma, the player eventually signed for the then Serie A champions in the summer of 2001. The transfer fee of around €28m, was at that time a huge amount to pay for a player who was still only 19 years old - Juventus president Luciano Moggi said at the time: "Cassano is a real talent, but €28m for a player of his age is excessive. It's too soon to understand exactly how much he is worth." Cassano's first season at Roma produced only five goals, but as he developed his game he began to come to the attention of those in charge of the national side, culminating in a scoring debut for Italy in November 2003, against Poland. He went on to make the squad for Euro 2004, scoring in two out of Italy's three matches. Controversy has continually trailed Cassano as his numerous spats with coaches at club and international level will attest. His relationship with former Roma coach Fabio Capello was a fractious one - the pair fell out over Cassano's omission from a practice match days after his international debut - but Capello has himself since moved on to Juventus. In the 2004/2005 Cassano showed his controverse behaviour to its greater extent: after the resignation of Cesare Prandelli because of personal reasons, he had a resounding quarrel with replacement Rudi Voeller for a month long, until Voeller resigned because of poor results. On 31 December 2004, in one of the really rare interviews allowed by Cassano, he claimed to miss his former coach Fabio Capello, considered by Cassano "like a father". During the following of the season, he had even been out of squad by Luigi Del Neri, who had been the third AS Roma coach during the season, before being replaced by Bruno Conti on a disastrous season for the giallorossi. Right since the 2005/2006 pre-season, with Roma coached by former Udinese trainer Luciano Spalletti, Cassano continuously showed some bitterness for the club, especially at the highest levels, because of economical issues about a renewal of his contract, which would have expired in 30 June 2006. Many sports columnists claimed that Cassano could leave Roma in order to join Juventus, and his former coach Fabio Capello, but eventually joined Real Madrid in January 2006. He debuted for the merengues on January 18, in a Copa del Rey match against Real Betis, and scored his first goal just three minutes after he came in during the second half.