An American Ferrari

Stumbled across this. Great to see such a young and up-coming FORWARD get his shot in one of the more challenging leagues in the world. Also, quite like the Sampdoria symbol, which to me looks like an old guy, in a hat, smoking a pipe (but it probably isn't).

Anyway, interesting article about the kid, and his roots, in an Italian magazine:

The current issue of the weekly Italian sports magazine Guerin Sportivo features an article on Ferrari, along with a photo of him training in his Sampdoria gear. Here it is translated below:


A new Ferrari for Sampdoria’s youth team

His fellow countrymen, and also John Van Den Brom (manager of the Ajax youth teams until just a few months ago and ex-Holland international from the 1980s), say that he is similar to Ibrahimovic, but he sees himself closer to Trezeguet. And for one who is also a distant relative of Pelé, it’s not a bad introduction.

We’re talking about Gabriel “Gabe” Ferrari, a forward born in New York in 1988 and signed by Sampdoria at no cost after leaving the New York Red Bulls. His grandfather is from the Liguria region of Italy, his father an Italian-American and his mother a Brazilian. Ferrari began in Brazil with Cruzeiro, but made himself known in the U.S. with Saint Benedict High School (in New Jersey, and considered as the school with the best soccer program in the country), and with the U-16 Metro Stars (ex-team of Italy coach Donadoni, now called the Red Bulls), in which he won the 2005 national championship in his age group, also gathering the title of Player of the Year.

And while wearing the jersey of the New York team during an important tournament in Holland (the Terborg Tournament, were both Obinna and Maxwell were discovered), he was noticed by Giuseppe Dello Russo, an Italian lawyer and Northern European consultant for Oscar Damiani’s Sport Service, who brought him to Vitesse and then later to Ajax. With Ajax he had even racked up a few appearances with the first team, but an ugly injury suffered during a friendly against Sparta Prague convinced him to head back to the USA. Then Sampdoria made their move, thanks to the good relationship between Dello Russo and Sampdoria’s general director Beppe Marotta and chief talent scout Fabio Paratici, and had him sign a contract that runs until 2010.

Possessing both a powerful physique and good technique, Ferrari has always played as a center forward, a role in which he also played when trying out for the Primavera team. Just before Christmas and right after the break, Sampdoria head coach Walter Novellino wanted to put him with the first team, but this time by utilizing him as a flank midfielder and alternating with Quagliarella and Franceschini. Gabriel showed good movement, so much so that, with Foti currently on loan with Vicenza, it could be a safe bet to see him break through in the Serie A before the end of the season.

The growing appeal of the Italian-American market is also confirmed by the presence of Vincenzo Bernardo in Napoli’s youth squad. Bernardo was born in 1990 and, like Ferrari, attended Saint Benedict High School and then played with the MetroStars. A very technical forward with a compact build, his playing style brings to mind that of Javier Saviola, currently with Barcelona.

Franco Spicciariello

 

Sampdoria has my favorite kit in Italy by far. I have been looking for one on Ebay.

 

Tom, FYI, they have Sampdoria available on World Soccer Shop:

http://www.worldsoccershop.com/shop-by- ... doria.html

BTW, I agree--it is a cool kit.

 

Thanks Dave! $89.00 is a bit out of my price range though. If anyone ever sees one cheaper, under $50 let me know.

 

Keep trolling eBay. It's more fun if you are up for the challenge.

 

Hope he does well and more yanks go to Italy instead of always choosing England.

 

After seeing the way Vincenzo Montella plays, hard to argue that it is not a skillful league.

 

I wish Ferrari agreed to that developmental contract RBNY gave him a while back; but I can understand why he said no. He's on the bench in Serie freakin' A right now.

It's my understanding he would love to play for the United States, so I hope he continues his development in Sampdoria and gets capped in the near future. America needs forwards!

 

Amen, brother!