Pagliuca’s praise for Amelia

Wednesday 28 December, 2005

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Veteran goalkeeper Gianluca Pagliuca believes that Livorno shot-stopper Marco Amelia can follow in his footsteps and excel at international level.

In an interview on Italian radio station Antenna Tre, Pagliuca also claimed that Italian football is suffering from something of a goalkeeping crisis.

“There’s no-one coming through, only Amelia," stated the former Azzurri 'keeper. "He struggled a bit last season but now he’s showing his true ability, I’m counting on him and I hope that he can keep improving.”

Amelia is attracting more and more media attention after a superb season in an over-achieving Livorno side, and it looks likely that the 23-year-old will return to Roma, his first club, in January.

By contrast, Pagliuca is having a miserable season at Bologna who, despite expecting to challenge for a return to the top-flight, are languishing in mid-table.

Despite his loyalty to the Rossoblu, the 39-year-old admitted that he cannot rule out a return to Serie A, where he remains one appearance short of Dino Zoff’s record of 569.

"Last December I was asked if I’d be interested in a return to Inter," he revealed. "I chose to stay at Bologna and even though we were relegated I don’t regret it.”

stephenlion

pagliuca

你的決定是正確的