After the goal scored for the national team against Estonia, many are wondering which Italian center forward from the past the twenty-year-old from Inter can be compared to
Warning for those reading: here we are talking about a chrysalis that has not yet become a wonderful butterfly, and therefore it must be given time to grow (and make mistakes) without haste, following the natural course of things. The protagonist of the story is Pio Esposito: twenty years old, an imposing physique, a role (that of center forward) that ignites people’s imagination and hope, a future that everyone predicts will be golden, but in these cases it is always better to take it slow, not to overload with responsibility a boy who, until a year ago, played in Serie B. Let’s enjoy the talent that blossoms and not ask him to be what he isn’t yet. For now let’s evaluate what we have seen, let’s rely on direct experience, on the test of reality, and not just on emotions.
Pio Esposito’s goal against Estonia
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Let’s start from the goal scored against Estonia: a cross that comes from the left, rather tense and low, and Pio, with an excellent choice of timing, hits the outside neck with his right foot and sends the ball into the far corner. It’s a pure centre-forward gesture. To be clear: a gesture made by someone who is at ease in the opponent’s penalty area, has the clarity to choose the right position to evade the defender’s intervention and has the courage to attempt a volley. Among other things, a detail that is not at all irrelevant, the shot is performed with a counterbalance. If you don’t master the technique, you don’t even think about these types of conclusions. Esposito knows the fundamentals of football and applies them. In the action, the center forward’s ability to escape the marker should be underlined, as he breaks away from the marking in order to have space available for the shot, and here we can already see that pinch of cunning that an attacker must possess. Not that he resembles him physically, far from it, but this skill in being in the right place at the right time was possessed by another great Italian center forward: Alessandro Altobelli.
pio esposito and the comparison with altobelli
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“Spillo”, tall and thin as a nail, certainly didn’t have the physical power of Pio Esposito, but the latter has, like his illustrious “ancestor”, the ability to keep his distance in a confined space like the penalty area. It’s true that Altobelli played Jurassic football (and how beautiful it was!), but we must not forget that the basic principles, when you find yourself in the heart of opposing defences, are always the same. Even Pio, like “Spillo”, despite his height, knows how to master the ball and dribble into a small patch of pitch. This is also a technical signal that should not be underestimated and on which it is necessary to work to improve it further. Still remaining with what we saw in the match in Tallinn, there is one action in particular that has remained in our eyes. Pio Esposito, in a quick turnaround maneuver in the central area, receives the ball, tames it and “pots” it for the insertion of a teammate. On another occasion he attempts the same gesture near the penalty area. This means that the boy has vision of the game, that he knows the development of the plot in advance and that he has the qualities to also finish it. A striker, in our humble opinion one of the best to have worn the blue shirt, who possessed this ability to read the action and invite his teammates to join in, was Roberto Bettega.
the parallel between pio esposito and bettega
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Bobby-goal, as he was called, remained in people’s memories for his splendid headers (his header was a winner) or for his back-heel goals (a fantastic one scored at San Siro against Milan), but his best skill, probably, was precisely that of knowing how to link, as a striker, the play of the whole team. In the last years of his career, this is demonstrated by his retreat to a position on the pitch very close to that of an attacking midfielder. Well, we’re not claiming that Pio Esposito is like Bettega, because then we could say we’re good for the next ten years, but his broad vision of the game made us remember the great Bobby-goal. In the last few hours, after the goal scored against Estonia, the full comparison began: who does Pio Esposito look like? There are those who have bothered Bobo Vieri, but he probably doesn’t have the power nor the progression. There are those who have brought Luca Toni into play, but Pio is perhaps more technical and more of a juggler. Someone has argued, remaining in the Italian context, that some of his movements are reminiscent of those of the first Montella, however, even in this case, the physical difference between the two does not allow a credible comparison.
pious esposito, personality and courage
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The truth is that, at the moment, it is difficult to find similarities with other greats of the distant and recent past. Esposito demonstrated that he has the ability to break free in the area that Altobelli possessed, and the game vision of a striker like Bettega. However, it is fair to underline this, the road to reaching the level of these predecessors is still very long. On the other hand, Pio is only twenty years old and at twenty he certainly doesn’t lack time for learning. Meanwhile, and this is another concept to highlight, the boy who played in Serie B last year made his debut with the national team without batting an eyelid and without betraying particular emotions, he accepted the weight of responsibility and had the courage to try even difficult things, as evidenced by the goal he scored. It means that Pio has personality and this is certainly a point in his favor. Now let’s not let it get to our heads, even if coach Gattuso and his coach at Inter Cristian Chivu, while extolling his qualities, will make him keep his ears down, as is advisable in these cases. Pio Esposito is a chrysalis, let’s give him time and bring the necessary patience so that he becomes a splendid butterfly flying in the blue sky.
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