The promotion came thanks to a Babel of footballers, coming from every corner of the world
An honorary degree in languages for Serie A. Venice is a citizen of the world by nature and this is not denied even in football, if it is true that Stroppa’s troop took the pass to the upstairs with a large patrol of foreigners. The news up to this point would be relative, but it is curious to note how this year footballers belonging to as many as… five different continents have dressed in orange-green! From the icon of Suriname to a very well-known Ghanaian, up to a new signing who dreams of playing in the World Cup with Iraq, here are the faces of the Babel team newly promoted to Serie A.
Europe
—
It is clear that the Europeans lead numerically. Furthermore, Venezia rests on the powerful shoulders of Andrea Adorante who confirmed his splendid scoring tally from last year (when he wore the Juve Stabia shirt): Italian players like him are Issa Doumbia, Lella, Pietrelli, Compagnon, 2004 Dagasso (taken from Pescara in January), Venturi and Plizzari. The patrol of the Old Continent, then, expands dramatically: there is room for Belgium (Schingtienne and Sagrado), for the France (Sidibe and Hainaut), for an extensive tour of the Balkans (the Serbian Stankovic, the Croatians Sverko and Franjic), in addition to the clan Spanish (Casas and Kike Perez). There is no shortage of “Nordics”: the Austrian Svoboda, now a column in the lagoon, Icelandic Bjarkason, the Norwegian Bohinen, the Luxembourgish Korac. And in January the German Lauberbach, scoring in Cesena.
busio and haps
—
In Venice, however, three totems come from the American continent. Or rather, from the two Americas: North and South. First case: Ridgecian Haps. Who in the last month and a half has specialized in very heavy goals, if it is true that he has scored five times including four away: he allowed his team not to lose in Monza, Chiavari and above all Bari, where with a brace he split the red and white rearguard in two, opening the stage for his team’s 3-0. A perfect symphony for the Surinamese who fits divinely in Venice: in orange-green he landed for the first time in summer 2021, from Feyenoord. Then a year and a half in the Genoa shirt and the return, two seasons ago, to the lagoon: he has just achieved his second promotion in four years after the one with Grifone and now he can’t wait to play the World Cup with his Suriname. From North America, United States to be precise, Gianluca Busio left way back in 2021: an orange-green home certainty, with the Venetians he won two promotions to Serie A. Mother from New York, father from Brescia: Italy is now a piece of his heart.
yeboah
—
From South America, however, here is John Yeboah: his first year, last year, was an apprenticeship because he came from Rakow after a long wandering between Holland and Germany, but this time in Serie B he took center stage with 9 goals and 8 assists. And the goal is to reach double figures by the end of the year in both specialties. National? Ecuador: the class of 2000 also scored during last March’s friendly match against Morocco. The desire to win the World Cup is gigantic, after having missed the 2022 one: Yeboah plays as a right winger in the national team, receiving supplies from Moises Caicedo and setting the table for that foxy Enner Valencia in the center of the area.
asia and africa
—
The fourth continent lent to the lagoon is Asia. Or the origin of the globetrotter Marko Farij. Curious story, his: born in 2004, Iraqi by blood but Norwegian by birth (he holds both passports), in 2025 he reached double figures with Stromgodset, the Scandinavian team that weaned him. Venezia bet on it this winter to add an extra card to Stroppa’s deck which immediately gave him a couple of matches against Frosinone and Modena. Farij also runs with the national team: Iraq called him for the decisive World Cup playoff against Bolivia, he reciprocated by offering the assist for Hussein’s historic goal. That was worth the pass to North America. Closing the Venetian Babel is the best-known Alfred Duncan, the African “flag-bearer”: he married Italy as a child (remember him on his debut in Serie A with Inter?), but represents the Ghanawith whom he also made 8 appearances for the youth team and the senior national team.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
