Francesco Camarda, remember this name carefully. A great emerging talent in Italian football, the young Transalpine made history a little more on Saturday evening, during the success gleaned by AC Milan against Fiorentina (1-0). By making his appearance on the San Siro pitch in the 83rd minute of play, the Milan striker, with more than 500 goals, became, at 15 years, 8 months and 15 days, the youngest player in history to play a match in the Italian championship. An exceptional precocity record – surpassing the most publicized Warren Zaire-Emery (2006) and Lamine Yamal (2007) – inevitably praised by the local press.
Present on the front pages of the Gazzetta dello Sport or even Corriere dello Sport, the 1m84 striker – who has already distinguished himself in the Youth League – has thus erased from the shelves a certain Wisdom Amey, author of his first championship match with Bologna at 15 years, 9 months and one day according to the figures of the Lega Serie A. Before that, it was the legend Gianni Rivera who notably recovered this record of precocity by making his debut in the elite with Alessandria in 1958, at only 15 years, 9 months and 15 days. These figures are dizzying but illustrate, a little more, all the hopes placed in the man who was born on March 10, 2008… Acclaimed by the 73,000 spectators present in the Milanese aisles on Saturday evening, Camarda thus wrote the first page of his history.
The Milanese locker room is already won over!
Generally discreet for his first minutes with the professional team, the Rossonero only had two small balls to negotiate but Italy and the Milanese team will obviously not remember his performance against the Viola this Sunday morning. “He has a lot of talent, he is an intelligent person, he understood that he would have to work even harder than the others. He can reach the top because he has his head on his shoulders.”, underlined his captain Davide Calabria, proud to see his young teammate become the first player born in 2008 to play a match in one of the five main European championships. Asked about this ascent as express as it is exceptional, Stefano Pioli, currently faced with a cascade of injuries, also made complimentary remarks about his protégé.
“He brought us his talent and his freshness. This is the first of the small steps he will have to take on his journey. He is humble, he is hardworking and he knows that this is only the beginning.assured the Italian technician at a press conference after having already greeted his nugget at the microphone of Sky Sport Italia : “Camarda is a good guy, he is very young, he is talented and he is also mature, making his debut at this age is not for everyone, he deserved it”. Third in Serie A with 26 points, AC Milan – which has not won in the league since October 7 – will now have to do everything to protect and polish this rough diamond as best as possible. In the meantime, without Francesco Camarda, the Rossoneri will host Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday evening for a very important shock in the race for the round of 16 of the Champions League…
