American striker Gabe Ferrari has been transferred from Sampdoria to Serie C1 side Foggia after spending the past season on loan with Perugia. The New York native made 14 appearances for Perugia this season, scoring one goal.
Foggia, which last saw Serie A action in the early 1990s, has been trying to claw its way back into Serie B since 1998, coming close to promotion in 2007.
Ferrari could see his first action for Foggia in their August 2nd Tim Cup match against Viterbese.
SSC Napoli primavera striker Vincenzo Bernardo appears even closer to a loan deal for the second half of the season.
The new twist, as he told LFV, is that instead of possibly going to a Serie C side, there is a good chance the 18 year-old New Jersey native could end up in Serie B.
We’ll find out more in the coming weeks as he and his agent consider options, bearing in mind their priority to find a club where he can play every week – but also one which will support any possible callups for US U-20 World Championship qualifiers. Stay tuned.
Speaking of Serie B, American Danny Szetela and his Brescia team were snowed out of their match with Sassuolo which will be rescheduled for January 27th. Brescia has been tinkering with a 4-3-3 formation which may leave Szetela as the odd man out. We’ll find out more this weekend in their match against Pisa. Meanwhile, in Serie C action, Gabe Ferrari and his Perugia team will be looking for three points in today’s road match at Benevento.
In other news, Carlos Bocanagra went the full 90 for Rennes as they vaulted themselves into second place (at least for today) with a 1-0 home win over upstart Grenoble. Freddy Adu did not dress for AS Monaco’s 2-1 loss to FC Nantes. And, rounding out the Americans in southern Europe, Jozy Altidore did not play in Villarreal’s 3-3 draw with Valencia. A late penalty by Villarreal’s other New Jersey native, Giuseppe Rossi, saved the point for the Yellow Submarine.
The Coppa Italia tournament already started 10 days ago with first round matches between the clubs at Lega Pro (Serie C) level and below. Two weeks ago, American striker Gabe Ferrari played 47 minutes as Perugia topped Lumezzane 1-0 to earn a berth in the second round. But Perugia’s Coppa Italia campaign came to an end this weekend as Ferrari saw 71 minutes of action as Perugia fell to Serie B side Ascoli 3-1.
Tonight a nine-man Perugia dropped a friendly to Frosinone 2-1 in a match which saw three red cards passed out between both sides. Neither Ferrari nor his primary competition at forward, Sergio Ercolano played in the match.
Playing without Danny Szetela, just returning from Olympic duty for the USA, Brescia won their second round opener (Serie B teams join in the second round) in a 2-1 win over Foligno. They next face Serie A side Torino this weekend in third round action. It remains to be seen whether Brescia coach Serse Cosmi will decide to play Szetela in Saturday’s match.
While their countrymen battle for advancement in the Olympic Games over in China, two young Americans are preparing themselves for the upcoming Italian soccer season.
Gabriel Ferrari, on loan from Sampdoria to Perugia, seems to be settling in well already seeing 75 minutes of playing time in this week’s 3-2 preseason win over Serie A side Catania. A week earlier, he started and scored a 45th minute goal in a 4-2 win over Castel Rigone.
Perugia was a former Serie A/Serie B regular until a series of financial irregularities led to the club’s collapse and re-founding in 2005, starting the 2006 season in Serie C2 (4th division). They’ve now found their way to the new Lega Pro (3rd division) with their sights on returning to Serie B, and eventually Serie A. Its a good situation for Ferrari; a club with aspirations where he can see plenty of playing time. If all goes well, he can either return to Sampdoria or stay on if Perugia earns promotion to Serie B.
Down south in Naples, Vincenzo Bernardo has returned from playing for the US U-20 team in the Milk Cup, an experience he called “very rewarding.” Vincenzo came back to SSC Napoli to learn that 20 of the players he worked with last year had been chopped, leaving only seven, including Bernardo, to form the nucleus of the primavera (reserve) team. With preseason training starting in two weeks, Bernardo is keeping himself fit running up and down the mountains surrounding Naples in the oven-like heat of southern Italy. “Its a good way to prepare myself and get even more fit for the season” said Bernardo today after returning from a long run in the scorching heat.
Letters From Vagabondia 