Demiral “so happy for him”
It’s one of those football stories that warms the heart: because almost all the strikers in the professional squad are injured, Gian Piero Gasperini, coach of Europa League quarter-finalists Atalanta, decides to take 18-year-old Moustapha Cissé with him to the away game at FC Bologna. The talent from Guinea has only been at the club for four weeks and is training under professional conditions for the first time. Gasperini’s courage pays off: In the 65th minute, the coach brings in Cissé for the ineffective Luis Muriel. Only 17 minutes later, Mario Pasalic punches through, Cissé is free in front of goalkeeper Lukasz Skorupski and converts ice-coldly with his left. The game ends 1:0 for Atalanta.
Atalanta first brought Cissé to his own academy on February 22nd, since then he has actually been playing for the U19s in the Primavera league. He was discovered by scouts from “La Dea” (the goddess) at a benefit match between second division club US Lecce and ASD Rinascita Refugeesan eight-class team from Apulia, more precisely from the Salento peninsula – the heel of the Italian boot – for refugee adults and minors who are cared for by the so-called “Siproimi” project (protection system for persons entitled to international protection and for unaccompanied foreign minors). will.
The teenager had played for them since escaping as an orphan across the Mediterranean. “After a series of family tragedies – including the death of his father – Moustapha dropped out of school and left Guinea in search of a better life,” said Rinascita Refugees President Antonio Palma in the “Gazzetta dello Sport“. “He was 16 at the time, disoriented, scared. He didn’t know what to do.” Now he has scored his first goal in a top five league.
Assistant coach praises: Cissé’s substitution “stroke of genius” from Atalanta coach Gasperini
“He’s been training with us for a while now but if all the strikers were available he probably wouldn’t have come to Bologna at all,” Tullio Gritti, Atalanta’s assistant coach, told the club’s website on Monday. “It’s proof that there is always something good hidden and you just have to bring it out. Cissé’s substitution was a stroke of genius from Gasperini, who previously said the lad has a lot of quality. Especially his shooting accuracy.”
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Cissé had already demonstrated this in Primavera and thus aroused Gasperini’s interest. Five days after his commitment, he scored a brace in the 3-1 win over AC Milan U19s, and two weeks later Cissé scored for the Atalanta youth team against SSC Napoli (1-0). Makes a fabulous record of four league goals in four games for the U19s and the pros, where even one of the coveted non-EU places was made available for him. “It was a very important win tonight, I’m so happy for Atalanta and for Cissé,” said defender Merih Demiral after the game at “DAZN” in Italy. “He deserved that goal and next time he’ll do even better.”
Che bella storia!
What a wonderful story! #BolognaAtalanta #GoAtalantaGo pic.twitter.com/Q2CW9ygC0P
— Atalanta BC (@Atalanta_BC) March 20, 2022
Demiral and Co. carried Cissé off the pitch on their shoulders after the game. “In addition to his great footballing qualities, he is also an extraordinary boy,” praised assistant coach Gritti. “He came to Bergamo, trained with us, has an excellent education, even if his life hasn’t been easy so far. But he is a wonderful person with a great will to learn.”
In view of the injury situation, Duván Zapata, for example, will be out until at least the end of April, so it shouldn’t have been Cissé’s last appearance with the pros this season. But his story is extraordinary.
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