Day 10 - Zero Branco Calcio

Roberto took me to watch Andrea's team play football. His team is named after the town Zero Branco. They are a semi-professional team that play in the lower reaches of the Italian football pyramid. On a par with Stalybridge Celtic.

However, all was not well with team Zero Branco. Andrea joined the team in the summer with the promise that he would be number 1 goalkeeper. The squad had also drafted in ex Serie A goalkeeper Christian Gobbo, age 36. His principle job was to be goalkeeper coach and backup, for which he was being paid handsomely.


Zero Branco Pitch.

This didn't last long however. In contrast to his popular saying to Andrea "You are the future and I am the past", it appears that Gobbo told the manager that he wanted to play. So with no explanation, Andrea was dropped and Gobbo was in. That was over 5 games ago. The manager wouldn't even play Andrea in the reserves because he didn't want to run the risk if injury. So it was no real surprise when we reached the ground to find out that Andrea was on the bench again.


Zero Branco v Caiserdosson.

The match was a real relegation 6 pointer. Zero Branco were 3rd bottom, the visiting team only 1 point better off with a real problem of not scoring goals. The game kicked off and I immediately joined the Cassierdosson fans. I wanted Gobbo to let in a sackful!

Caiserdosson started off the brighter team. They held the ball better, passed it better and looked head and shoulders a better side than Zero Branco. The only thing letting them down was a powder puff attack. They created plenty of promising positions but never really threatened goal. Which was a good thing considering who was in goal. Gobbo translates as "Hunchback" and the name is quite apt. He flapped at crosses. Made powder puff shots at goal look better with his late dives. I couldn't work out if it was that he was that slow or he was just trying to make it look like a great save.

The second half was much as the first. Casierdosson were not going to score if they played all night. It looked like Zero Branco may get an undeserved goal on the counter, but an excellent point blank save denied them late on. The game ended goalless. Zero Branco are in for a long winter if that is their normal standard of play. As for Gobbo watch, I could have kept a clean sheet in that game. Time to get Andrea in the goals before its too late.


Andrea consigned to the bench.