Serie A special: Capocannoniere candidate – Marco Di Vaio
Marco Di Vaio was born on July 15th, 1976. Nicknamed “The stoat”, the strikers started his career with Lazio youth academy where he was highly rated. Di Vaio has travelled extensively over the years. The striker has played for 10 different clubs
in a career that spans over 16 years.
After making his debut for Lazio, the striker played for several seasons in Serie B before moving to Serie A with Salernitana. Di Vaio moved to Parma following Salernitana’s relegation. The striker remained with Gialloblu for four seasons, scoring an impressive
41 goals in 83 appearances. Di Vaio’s fine form earned him a national team call up. With Azzurri, the striker managed only 14 appearances scoring 2 goals. His fine form with Parma earned him a move to Continental heavyweights Juventus FC. The Turin giants
paid a hefty 7 million Euros for his transfer while Di Vaio had to face fierce competition for a starting berth. Juventus won the Scudetto in 2004 with Di Vaio in the line up while losing narrowly to AC Milan in an all Italian Champions League Final.
Upon Fabio Capello’s arrival at the club, Di Vaio and fellow strike partner Fabrizio Miccoli were frozen out of the first team. Di Vaio was eventually sold to Valencia in the Spanish La Liga for 10.5 million Euros. Di Vaio couldn’t settle in Spain as he
scored only 11 goals in 35 league goals. The striker could only manage a single start in his second season with the club. Upon David Villa’s arrival at the club, the striker was loaned out to AS Monaco in France where the striker partnered Christian Vieri
but failed to make an impact.
In 2007, Di Vaio moved back to Peninsula with CFC Genoa. Genoa was in Serie B and was a strong contender for promotion. Di Vaio scored 9 goals in 22 appearances thus helping the club move back to Serie A. To his dismay, Di Vaio was again made third choice
behind Giuseppe Sculli and Marco Borriello. The striker’s form dipped dramatically as he could only muster a poor 3 goals in 2008.
Newly promoted Serie A side, Bologna FC announced the capture of Di Vaio in the August of 2008. The striker was to partner former Genoa teammate Adailton. With Bologna, the striker burst in to life. At the age of 32, the striker seemed to have found his
groove as the diminutive forward leading the Serie A defenders merry dance. In 2009, Di Vaio featured in every league match for Bologna and scored a fantastic 24 goals. His exploits made him the take the second spot in Capocannoniere charts for the season.
Last season, Di Vaio scored 12 league goals in 29 appearances.
Di Vaio has started this season in a blistering form. Age doesn’t seem to hinder the forwards ambitions as the player has scored 4 goals in just 5 matches for Bologna. The striker has finally found home at Bologna. Di Vaio has made a habit of scoring against
Serie A big guns. The striker has impressive fitness levels for a man of 33 and is likely to feature in most of Bologna’s matches. If the striker manages to keep his fine run of form, he is an outside bet for winning the Capocannoniere award come the end of
season.
Tags: