The 'Paolo Rossi' award to Victor Osimhen, top scorer of the recently ended Serie A football season. Next Sunday at the Maradona stadium, before the second round match of Serie A Napoli-Sassuolo, the centre forward of the Italian champions will receive the award that the Italian Footballers' Association assigns to the top scorer of the recently ended season.
Umberto Calcagno, president of AIC, will award him. This is, the footballers' association underlines, "a fair reward for the young striker who, statistics in hand, during the 2022-23 championship, out of a total of 26 goals scored, scored 13 decisive ones.
He thus also finishes first in this special ranking of the so-called "important goals", in addition to becoming the most prolific African player in terms of goals scored during a single Italian season". For three years, the AIC has named the award after Pablito, who with his inventions led Italy to the 1982 World Cup title.
Like him, “Victor Osimhen has a weakness for goals that direct or change the course of a match. When he arrives in Naples – continues the footballers’ association -, all he has to do is step onto the field with that all-encompassing determination, with that implacable instinct for the “right” ball, for the fans at the Diego Armando Maradona stadium to recognize him instantly”.
“Even though he was born on another continent, Victor Osimhen is one of them, one of those “scugnizzi” who, according to the Neapolitan philosopher Luciano De Crescenzo, very simply embody the love of life,” concludes the AIC in its motivation.
And he is so much so that, when an injury forces him to play with a protective mask, he will struggle to take it off when he no longer needs it. Almost knowing that he is playing that Pulcinella on the field who is “Neapolitan” like no other in the world”.
Article published on 25 August 2023 - 14:45
