Marco Nappi is regularly described as a funambolo – an acrobatic circus act who performs amazing tricks on the high wire. It’s no wonder he became a fans’ favourite at every club he played for, as long before Zlatan Ibrahimovic, there was another fiery two-footed forward who liked to entertain the crowds, often enthralling as much as he infuriated.
Never has a player been so in love with the ball, which is probably why he couldn’t bear to part with it. He’s announced his retirement twice in recent years, yet at the age of 40 was still going in the amateur Leagues. “I hope my career never ends – I can’t imagine my life without playing football,” said the blonde calcio bombshell. In December 2004 he had hung up his boots due to injury, cutting short a contract with Carrarese, before changing his mind and signing a new deal at Cuneo in Serie D.
Nappi was just one exam short of his coaching certificate when he dropped it all to tread the pitch again with Sestri Levante. “The call of the game and to wear the red and blue colours was too strong,” revealed the ex-Grifoni hero. “After so many years, I get to pull on a shirt identical to that of Genoa, the club that has always been in my heart. It’s a dream come true and by now my DNA is Rossoblu. I give Sestri my experience and my instinct for goal, which thankfully hasn’t left me yet.”
‘Nippo’ Nappi has certainly not been lazy, going through 17 different clubs in a 24-year career. His big break was with Fiorentina in 1989, where he made his Serie A debut in a 3-1 victory over Sampdoria and with whom he reached the UEFA Cup Final. He helped Udinese into Serie A and played for Spal before finding his second home in Genoa. The Rome-born talent spent seven seasons there, on and off, and is still fondly remembered by the Marassi crowd. So much, in fact, that he was given a standing ovation during a 2004 summer friendly when he scored a brace in Carrarese’s 3-2 defeat to the Rossoblu.
“It’s always emotional to play against the side I love so much,” he said. “I almost went back to Genoa in 2002 with my old Coach Franco Scoglio, but there were disagreements at the club and it came to nothing. We were together in that 1988-89 campaign to earn promotion to Serie A and the memories are incredible. By the half-way stage we’d already cut down any opposition for the leadership and, on top of getting results, we played brilliant football.”
Nappi has always been an aesthete of the game, concerned with its beauty and spectacle. Ironic for a man voted ‘Ugliest Player in Italy’ and who accepted the prize by noting: “I’d like to thank my mother, for she made this award-winning face!” He delighted in doing the unbelievable and giving the fans their money’s worth. Who can forget the time in the UEFA Cup against Werder Bremen when defending a corner he took the ball out of defence and almost to the centre circle with it balanced on his forehead?
It earned him the nickname ‘Foca Monaca’ – a performing seal – yet players are still trying to emulate him. Cruzeiro’s new teenage Brazilian sensation Kerlon Souza Moura took the title Foquinha for the same trick and he has been linked with Fiorentina, whose fans clearly haven’t forgotten the bizarre joy of such a sight at the Stadio Franchi.
“Marco is a born leader and a wonderful man,” explained former Genoa and Atalanta teammate Giacomo Banchelli. “He still has the enthusiasm, legs and spirit of a 20-year-old. He’s also maintained his desire to win and above all the readiness to make sacrifices for the team. Nappi’s greatest strength, though, is that he has fun playing football. He just loves it.”
His last Serie A appearance was with Atalanta in 2001 and the third retirement was the charm this summer, but 40-year-old Nappi hasn’t tired of sharing this love for the sport. “I haven’t time to get bored. I am partners in a business with ex-Sampdoria player Giovanni Invernizzi and I’m responsible for the football academy at Internazionale Genova. As a professional player, you appreciate the fact you’re an example to so many youngsters and that they dream of following in your footsteps. I feel that responsibility and like it, as I can see myself in them, when I was a boy who used to go to the stadium to watch Roma and imagine one day emulating my idols.”
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