Written by Luca Bianchin for Gazzetta dello Sport:
One of the strangest paths to success. Federico Chiesa is the son of Enrico, who scored against the Czech Republic at Euro 96, but at a young age Federico wasn’t considered professional football material. “At 14, I played only one game, not even as a starter. I was often sent to play with footballers one year younger than me,” he said. Then, between 2016 and 2017, he became a starter for Fiorentina in Serie A. Now with Juventus, he was one of the stars of the Italy team that won Euro 2020. However he has experienced ups and downs in the last three years under his club coach, Massimiliano Allegri, with injury problems as well. Half footballer, half scientist, Chiesa has said he would have liked to have studied cosmology and plays as if he wants to set off a big bang. Always sprinting, always at full speed, he can make the difference with his pace and powerful shot.