Cesena midfielder http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marco-Parolo-c23723 – Story of a young man’s transformation from Lega Pro to Azzurri
In the space of just 24 months, Cesena midfielder Marco Parolo has gone from the obscurity of Lega Pro to wearing the esteemed Azzurri jersey. Such has been the rapid rise of Parolo that he himself finds it hard to believe. He said the same words when Italian manager Cesare Prandelli named him in the national squad. Parolo might have been left incredulous but it was a surprise for those who had worked with him
His manager at Foligno, Pierpaolo Bisoli, noted that Marco lacked belief in himself.
“After his first three days with me at Foligno, I turned to him and told him that he lacked faith in himself. And I continued to tell him that,” Bisoli said.
Gianmatteo Mareggini, who played alongside Parolo during the midfielder’s time at Pistoiese, had similar reservations about his former teammate’s defect of not believing in himself. The goalkeeper also noticed that Parolo always had the talent but the determination wasn’t there. “I got the impression that he wasn’t convinced of his own ability,” said Mareggini.
To a degree, this self-doubting was understandable. He grew up in the youth ranks of Como under the guidance of Stefano Borgonovo – now suffering from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Sadly, the club collapsed due to financial strains and young Parolo had to start all over again with Pistoiese. Then in 2007, Parolo suffered another setback that shredded his confidence. At that stage, he was on the verge of a move to Chievo Verona as the club had just acquired rights for the player. It was Parolo’s hope that he would get to play in the preseason for the club. Instead, he was asked to get a little more experience in the Serie C1. The youngster understood the fact and initially it was apparent that he may get a loan move to either Cremonese or Padova. However, the youngster ended up being loaned to Foligno – clearly not a standard that Parolo had set for himself.
Although it wasn’t the kind of environment Parolo had hoped for, it turned out to be a move that would eventually lay down the foundations of his Azzurri debut against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ukraine-c3032 in March. Though he spent just 12 months with the club form Umbria, it all started for him there; he met Bisoli, who turned out to be a footballing godfather, and under his tutelage, the youngster flourished. Bisoli also says that he believed in the youngster when no one wanted to and on the eve of his Italy debut, he said that he always knew Parolo would play for the Azzurri one day.
Bisoli then helped Parolo have his first taste of second division football. At that time, Bisoli was the manager of Cesena and the Italian requested to buy Parolo in the summer of 2009. Upon his arrival at Cesena on loan from parent club Chievo Verona, Parolo scored 5 goals in 36 Serie B games as Cesena surprised everyone by gaining promotion to the Serie B. Though Bisoli left the club for Cagliari, Parolo remained with the club. Cesena had already bought 50% of Parolo’s contract from Chievo Verona, believed to be around 300,000 Euros. Before the start of the current campaign, Cesena made Parolo’s loan move permanent. Now, the amount is believed to be worth 10 times of his original price. In his first full season in the Serie A, the 26-year old has flourished. He is considered to be a box-to-box midfielder in the mould of AC Milan star, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Massimo-Ambrosini-c24579.
His tenacity and versatility in the midfield is no longer a lower league secret. Palermo, were interested in signing him this January and clubs like Genoa, Fiorentina and even Juventus are monitoring his progress. It remains to be seen where Parolo will go after Cesena. But for Parolo, it matters little because he is now playing for a league where he always wanted to play and undoubtedly, his talent is worthy of the league.
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