After losing his father, and then two years to cruciate injuries, the Fiorentina striker is back – and grateful for any goals he can get
Gianni Brera would have been incandescent. The late sports journalist, whose remarkable writing had a profound impact on not only the way Italians talk about football but also the way that the sport is played on the peninsula, famously argued that the perfect game would end goalless. According to his logic, two flawless teams would make no mistakes, and thus no opportunities to score would arise.
There was a good deal of imperfect football played in Serie A this weekend. A total of 43 goals were scored across 10 matches, and some of them were a little shambolic. Forwards scuffed, goalkeepers spilled and defenders deflected balls into their own nets. At times it felt downright tawdry – the footballing equivalent of a flashing neon sign that steers punters towards an underground doorway: "Goals! Goals! Goals!"
And yet there were also strikes that Brera himself might have stood to applaud. In Rome, Miralem Pjanic undid Verona with a perfect chip from 25 yards; in Bologna, Panagiotis Kone served up a trademark overhead kick; in Milan, Marco Sau beat Christian Abbiati with a curling effort into the top corner. Marek Hamsik's opener against Chievo, Ricky Alvarez's unpicking of Catania, and Adem Ljajic's debut finish for Roma were not half bad either.
The most exciting goals of the weekend, however, might not have been the most beautiful ones. Giuseppe Rossi's first against Genoa was fumbled into the net by the goalkeeper Mattia Perin. The Fiorentina forward jabbed his second in from about six yards out.
Rather than any aesthetic value, it was the simple fact of these goals that gave supporters a thrill. This was the same Rossi who had spent the best part of two years out of football, after suffering successive anterior cruciate ligament tears. His strike in Fiorentina's previous league game, a 2-1 win over Catania last Monday, had been his first in 686 days.
He dedicated that first goal to his father, who passed away in February 2010. Fernando Rossi had been his son's first coach, his mentor and his friend. Growing up in Teaneck, New Jersey, Giuseppe would practise with his father all week before they watched Serie A together on Sundays. "I remember the magic conjured by [Ruud] Gullit and [Marco] Van Basten," recalled the younger Rossi in 2011. "I adored them, even if I grew up to play more like [Jean-Pierre] Papin."
Fernando had moved to Europe with his son in 2000, travelling with him from Parma to Manchester, back to Parma and then on to Villarreal. When Rossi Sr passed away, Giuseppe was lost – admitting to never having learned how to cook, clean, or look after himself in so many other ways. Gradually he worked those things out, but after feeling his right knee give way during a game against Real Madrid on 26 October 2011, it was his father's guidance he missed the most.
Maybe his dad would have been a calming influence, convincing his son not to rush back too soon. Giuseppe was vocal in his determination to get fit again in time to represent Italy at the 2012 European Championship. He had become a fixture of Cesare Prandelli's sides before his injury. This was supposed to be Rossi's first major international tournament.
Instead he tore the ligament again during a training session with Villarreal in April 2012, before he had even had time to get into another competitive game. An initial prognosis of four months was extended after it became clear that an additional round of surgery would be required. In January, the Spanish club opted to cut their losses, selling the player to Fiorentina for a reported €10m plus bonuses.
He was still injured at that point, with only a slim chance of playing before the end of the 2012-13 campaign. Fiorentina allowed Rossi to go back to America, in part because that would allow him to work with the renowned knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman, but also because they could see that being near to family would do the player good.
"I was able to stay at home for six or seven months in total," said Rossi in August, when asked what positives he had drawn from his injury. "I was in America with my mum, Cleonilde, with my sister, Ina. I also met my new girlfriend, Jenna, there. I never thought about quitting football."
His family was present at Fiorentina's Stadio Artemio Franchi last Monday to see his season-opening goal against Catania. But now the player is focused first and foremost on improving his working relationships. The most important of those might be the one that he shares with his strike partner Mario Gomez, signed from Bayern Munich over the summer.
The pair combined to devastating effect on Sunday, with the German getting two goals of his own in what finished as a 5-2 victory over Genoa. It was an uneven performance by Fiorentina, who raced into a 3-0 lead but allowed themselves to be dragged back into a contest through a combination of complacency and sloppy defending. As their manager, Vincenzo Montella, noted afterwards, his team did not know how to control the game except by attacking.
Even so, Fiorentina will be hard to beat if they can remain this effective going forwards. On Sunday Borja Valero pulled the strings from a position just behind the attack, while Gomez served as the target man and Rossi roamed in a 4-3-1-2. All three played their parts superbly.
But Italian fans are most interested to see what Rossi himself can achieve. He had been phenomenal for Villarreal in his last season before injury, scoring 32 goals in 56 games across all competitions in 2010-11, as well as contributing 10 assists. A nation wondered how devastating he might be in tandem with Mario Balotelli for the national team.
That partnership was put on hold by his injuries, but now supporters are beginning to dream again. One or two journalists even protested against Prandelli's decision not to call Rossi up for Italy's World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Czech Republic over the next eight days – despite the fact that the player has not yet played the full 90 minutes of any competitive game since joining Fiorentina.
Rossi himself did not seem to mind being overlooked. "Right now I'm just thinking about doing great things with Fiorentina," he said. "I am trying to get better day by day and to improve my physical condition. I was not expecting to get called up by Prandelli."
Indeed, Rossi may be grateful for the rest. Between two Serie A fixtures and the first leg of Fiorentina's Europa League win over Grasshoppers, he has now played three games in 11 days. Some of his team-mates have played four in the same span, of course, but Rossi's body is still getting used to the strain of playing at all.
He has stated several times that he intends to become an even better player at Fiorentina than he was before the injuries. But he also knows better than most these days, that some things ought not to be rushed.
*Talking Points*
• Before saying any more about the football itself, a dark note from the aftermath of Roma's 3-0 win over Verona. After the game, a group of supporters launched an assault on the visitors' team bus as it was leaving the stadium. Gazzetta dello Sport described an operation planned with "almost military" precision, as fans appeared with faces covered to launch rocks at the bus's window from a strategic vantage point. Verona's police escort was unable to react in time to prevent a hail of stones from shattering several windows. No injuries were reported, but the damage to the bus was such that Verona had to abandon their plans to leave the city, staying another night in a hotel with the intention of travelling back by train on Monday instead. Roma had already been forced to close the Curva Sud of the Stadio Olimpico this weekend as a punishment for racist chants directed at Balotelli. At time of writing it is not yet clear if they could face further sanctions – though as this incident took place outside the stadium, it is not clear what effect they would have in any case.
• The game itself was another encouraging one for Roma. Leaving aside the quality of their goals, the Giallorossi continue to look compact and effective under Rudi Garcia. Ljajic was a menace from the moment he entered as a second-half substitute, and could easily have scored more than one.
• Bentornato, Ricky Kaká! The Brazil forward has completed a free transfer to Milan where he has signed a two-year contract with the club he left for years ago. The player's spell in Madrid has not been a happy one and he may never recapture the form he once showed but, to anyone who remembers the tears that preceded his departure, there is something wonderful about the idea of seeing Kaká back in red and black.
• Without Kaká, Milan won 3-1 at home to Cagliari. Mario Balotelli set up the first two goals and scored the third. "I'm playing good football," he said afterwards. "I want to be the best player in Europe and I want to show it this season. Right now Messi and Ronaldo are ahead of me, but things can still change."
• Gonzalo Higuaín, playing with a plaster across his chin following his well-publicised misadventures off the coast of Capri, scored his first goal for Napoli on Sunday, but once again it was Hamsik who stole the show. Four goals in two games is a pretty good way to start repaying that €3m per year contract the player signed over the summer. It may not last, but right now nobody in Naples is lamenting the absence of Edinson Cavani.
• Rafael Benítez's bright start as manager of Napoli has been matched by that of his predecessor, Walter Mazzarri, at Inter. The Nerazzurri crushed Catania 3-0 in Sicily – a remarkable scoreline when you consider how good the Elefanti have been at home in recent years. Better yet for Inter, this was a second clean sheet. For a team who had been conceding at a rate of nearly two per game in the second half of the previous campaign, that is some turnaround.
• Inter's next game will be against Juventus, who continued their own strong start with a 4-1 mauling of Lazio. Carlos Tevez took his personal tally to three goals in three games, although the star of the show on this occasion was Arturo Vidal – who scored his team's first two goals. "If Gareth Bale is worth €100m," wrote Fabio Bianchi in Gazzetta dello Sport, "then Vidal is worth at least half that."
• Sassuolo already look to be in deep trouble after a 4-1 defeat at home to fellow newly-promoted side Livorno. The difference was made by new arrivals – Leandro Greco, acquired from Olympiakos, scored Livorno's first, while Innocent Emeghara, on loan from Siena, added two more. It remains a surprise that nobody else came in for the latter player, whose seven goals in 17 games almost saved Siena last season.
• Most charming note of the week might have come from the Stadio Marassi, where a short cricket demonstration was played on the pitch before kick-off between Genoa and Fiorentina. As many of you will know, Genoa were originally set up as a cricket and athletics club – a fact still reflected in the club's name. In 2007 Genoa re-established their cricket team, and as part of the club's 140th anniversary celebrations it was invited to play at the stadium on Sunday. Unfortunately I haven't been able to track down any video footage – the best I could find is this still from Twitter. If anyone does come across any, please share!
*Results:* Atalanta 2-0 Torino, Bologna 2-2 Sampdoria, Catania 0-3 Inter, Chievo 2-4 Napoli, Genoa 2-5 Fiorentina, Juventus 4-1 Lazio, Milan 3-1 Cagliari, Roma 3-0 Verona, Sassuolo 1-4 Livorno, Udinese 3-1 Parma.
• Latest Serie A standings Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.
Gianni Brera would have been incandescent. The late sports journalist, whose remarkable writing had a profound impact on not only the way Italians talk about football but also the way that the sport is played on the peninsula, famously argued that the perfect game would end goalless. According to his logic, two flawless teams would make no mistakes, and thus no opportunities to score would arise.
There was a good deal of imperfect football played in Serie A this weekend. A total of 43 goals were scored across 10 matches, and some of them were a little shambolic. Forwards scuffed, goalkeepers spilled and defenders deflected balls into their own nets. At times it felt downright tawdry – the footballing equivalent of a flashing neon sign that steers punters towards an underground doorway: "Goals! Goals! Goals!"
And yet there were also strikes that Brera himself might have stood to applaud. In Rome, Miralem Pjanic undid Verona with a perfect chip from 25 yards; in Bologna, Panagiotis Kone served up a trademark overhead kick; in Milan, Marco Sau beat Christian Abbiati with a curling effort into the top corner. Marek Hamsik's opener against Chievo, Ricky Alvarez's unpicking of Catania, and Adem Ljajic's debut finish for Roma were not half bad either.
The most exciting goals of the weekend, however, might not have been the most beautiful ones. Giuseppe Rossi's first against Genoa was fumbled into the net by the goalkeeper Mattia Perin. The Fiorentina forward jabbed his second in from about six yards out.
Rather than any aesthetic value, it was the simple fact of these goals that gave supporters a thrill. This was the same Rossi who had spent the best part of two years out of football, after suffering successive anterior cruciate ligament tears. His strike in Fiorentina's previous league game, a 2-1 win over Catania last Monday, had been his first in 686 days.
He dedicated that first goal to his father, who passed away in February 2010. Fernando Rossi had been his son's first coach, his mentor and his friend. Growing up in Teaneck, New Jersey, Giuseppe would practise with his father all week before they watched Serie A together on Sundays. "I remember the magic conjured by [Ruud] Gullit and [Marco] Van Basten," recalled the younger Rossi in 2011. "I adored them, even if I grew up to play more like [Jean-Pierre] Papin."
Fernando had moved to Europe with his son in 2000, travelling with him from Parma to Manchester, back to Parma and then on to Villarreal. When Rossi Sr passed away, Giuseppe was lost – admitting to never having learned how to cook, clean, or look after himself in so many other ways. Gradually he worked those things out, but after feeling his right knee give way during a game against Real Madrid on 26 October 2011, it was his father's guidance he missed the most.
Maybe his dad would have been a calming influence, convincing his son not to rush back too soon. Giuseppe was vocal in his determination to get fit again in time to represent Italy at the 2012 European Championship. He had become a fixture of Cesare Prandelli's sides before his injury. This was supposed to be Rossi's first major international tournament.
Instead he tore the ligament again during a training session with Villarreal in April 2012, before he had even had time to get into another competitive game. An initial prognosis of four months was extended after it became clear that an additional round of surgery would be required. In January, the Spanish club opted to cut their losses, selling the player to Fiorentina for a reported €10m plus bonuses.
He was still injured at that point, with only a slim chance of playing before the end of the 2012-13 campaign. Fiorentina allowed Rossi to go back to America, in part because that would allow him to work with the renowned knee specialist Dr Richard Steadman, but also because they could see that being near to family would do the player good.
"I was able to stay at home for six or seven months in total," said Rossi in August, when asked what positives he had drawn from his injury. "I was in America with my mum, Cleonilde, with my sister, Ina. I also met my new girlfriend, Jenna, there. I never thought about quitting football."
His family was present at Fiorentina's Stadio Artemio Franchi last Monday to see his season-opening goal against Catania. But now the player is focused first and foremost on improving his working relationships. The most important of those might be the one that he shares with his strike partner Mario Gomez, signed from Bayern Munich over the summer.
The pair combined to devastating effect on Sunday, with the German getting two goals of his own in what finished as a 5-2 victory over Genoa. It was an uneven performance by Fiorentina, who raced into a 3-0 lead but allowed themselves to be dragged back into a contest through a combination of complacency and sloppy defending. As their manager, Vincenzo Montella, noted afterwards, his team did not know how to control the game except by attacking.
Even so, Fiorentina will be hard to beat if they can remain this effective going forwards. On Sunday Borja Valero pulled the strings from a position just behind the attack, while Gomez served as the target man and Rossi roamed in a 4-3-1-2. All three played their parts superbly.
But Italian fans are most interested to see what Rossi himself can achieve. He had been phenomenal for Villarreal in his last season before injury, scoring 32 goals in 56 games across all competitions in 2010-11, as well as contributing 10 assists. A nation wondered how devastating he might be in tandem with Mario Balotelli for the national team.
That partnership was put on hold by his injuries, but now supporters are beginning to dream again. One or two journalists even protested against Prandelli's decision not to call Rossi up for Italy's World Cup qualifiers against Bulgaria and Czech Republic over the next eight days – despite the fact that the player has not yet played the full 90 minutes of any competitive game since joining Fiorentina.
Rossi himself did not seem to mind being overlooked. "Right now I'm just thinking about doing great things with Fiorentina," he said. "I am trying to get better day by day and to improve my physical condition. I was not expecting to get called up by Prandelli."
Indeed, Rossi may be grateful for the rest. Between two Serie A fixtures and the first leg of Fiorentina's Europa League win over Grasshoppers, he has now played three games in 11 days. Some of his team-mates have played four in the same span, of course, but Rossi's body is still getting used to the strain of playing at all.
He has stated several times that he intends to become an even better player at Fiorentina than he was before the injuries. But he also knows better than most these days, that some things ought not to be rushed.
*Talking Points*
• Before saying any more about the football itself, a dark note from the aftermath of Roma's 3-0 win over Verona. After the game, a group of supporters launched an assault on the visitors' team bus as it was leaving the stadium. Gazzetta dello Sport described an operation planned with "almost military" precision, as fans appeared with faces covered to launch rocks at the bus's window from a strategic vantage point. Verona's police escort was unable to react in time to prevent a hail of stones from shattering several windows. No injuries were reported, but the damage to the bus was such that Verona had to abandon their plans to leave the city, staying another night in a hotel with the intention of travelling back by train on Monday instead. Roma had already been forced to close the Curva Sud of the Stadio Olimpico this weekend as a punishment for racist chants directed at Balotelli. At time of writing it is not yet clear if they could face further sanctions – though as this incident took place outside the stadium, it is not clear what effect they would have in any case.
• The game itself was another encouraging one for Roma. Leaving aside the quality of their goals, the Giallorossi continue to look compact and effective under Rudi Garcia. Ljajic was a menace from the moment he entered as a second-half substitute, and could easily have scored more than one.
• Bentornato, Ricky Kaká! The Brazil forward has completed a free transfer to Milan where he has signed a two-year contract with the club he left for years ago. The player's spell in Madrid has not been a happy one and he may never recapture the form he once showed but, to anyone who remembers the tears that preceded his departure, there is something wonderful about the idea of seeing Kaká back in red and black.
• Without Kaká, Milan won 3-1 at home to Cagliari. Mario Balotelli set up the first two goals and scored the third. "I'm playing good football," he said afterwards. "I want to be the best player in Europe and I want to show it this season. Right now Messi and Ronaldo are ahead of me, but things can still change."
• Gonzalo Higuaín, playing with a plaster across his chin following his well-publicised misadventures off the coast of Capri, scored his first goal for Napoli on Sunday, but once again it was Hamsik who stole the show. Four goals in two games is a pretty good way to start repaying that €3m per year contract the player signed over the summer. It may not last, but right now nobody in Naples is lamenting the absence of Edinson Cavani.
• Rafael Benítez's bright start as manager of Napoli has been matched by that of his predecessor, Walter Mazzarri, at Inter. The Nerazzurri crushed Catania 3-0 in Sicily – a remarkable scoreline when you consider how good the Elefanti have been at home in recent years. Better yet for Inter, this was a second clean sheet. For a team who had been conceding at a rate of nearly two per game in the second half of the previous campaign, that is some turnaround.
• Inter's next game will be against Juventus, who continued their own strong start with a 4-1 mauling of Lazio. Carlos Tevez took his personal tally to three goals in three games, although the star of the show on this occasion was Arturo Vidal – who scored his team's first two goals. "If Gareth Bale is worth €100m," wrote Fabio Bianchi in Gazzetta dello Sport, "then Vidal is worth at least half that."
• Sassuolo already look to be in deep trouble after a 4-1 defeat at home to fellow newly-promoted side Livorno. The difference was made by new arrivals – Leandro Greco, acquired from Olympiakos, scored Livorno's first, while Innocent Emeghara, on loan from Siena, added two more. It remains a surprise that nobody else came in for the latter player, whose seven goals in 17 games almost saved Siena last season.
• Most charming note of the week might have come from the Stadio Marassi, where a short cricket demonstration was played on the pitch before kick-off between Genoa and Fiorentina. As many of you will know, Genoa were originally set up as a cricket and athletics club – a fact still reflected in the club's name. In 2007 Genoa re-established their cricket team, and as part of the club's 140th anniversary celebrations it was invited to play at the stadium on Sunday. Unfortunately I haven't been able to track down any video footage – the best I could find is this still from Twitter. If anyone does come across any, please share!
*Results:* Atalanta 2-0 Torino, Bologna 2-2 Sampdoria, Catania 0-3 Inter, Chievo 2-4 Napoli, Genoa 2-5 Fiorentina, Juventus 4-1 Lazio, Milan 3-1 Cagliari, Roma 3-0 Verona, Sassuolo 1-4 Livorno, Udinese 3-1 Parma.
• Latest Serie A standings Reported by guardian.co.uk 12 hours ago.