AC Milan starlet Francesco Camarda on Saturday made history after becoming the youngest player to compete in Serie A during their 1-0 win over ACF Fiorentina.
Attacker Camarda took to the field in the 83rd minute at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza aged 15 years, eight months and 15 days, replacing Luka Jovic.
“He’s got a lot of talent and intelligence, he knows that he needs to work harder than everyone else,” Milan captain Davide Calabria said after the match.
Photo: AP
Camarda, who made headlines when he scored a bicycle kick against Paris Saint-Germain in the UFA Youth League, had little to do as Milan largely defended late-on in Saturday’s win.
“Francesco is a good lad. He is working well and we also need his freshness. He is very young but also very mature. We were all very happy for him. I could be his grandfather,” Milan’s 58-year-old manager Stefano Pioli told Sky Sports Italia.
He beat the previous record held by Bologna defender Wisdom Amey, who made his Serie A debut in May last year aged 15 years, nine months and one day.
Camarda was called up from Milan’s youth setup amid a series of absences including Olivier Giroud, Rafael Leao and Noah Okafor.
Milan are third in Serie A, five points behind league leaders Inter who were yesterday to face second-placed Juventus.
Elsewhere on Saturday, Walter Mazzarri made a winning return as SSC Napoli coach with the champions’ hard-fought 2-1 victory at Atalanta BC.
Eljif Elmas netted the decisive goal 11 minutes from the end at the Gewiss Stadium in Bergamo after Khvicha Kvaratskhelia’s headed opener for the away side on the stroke of halftime was leveled by a similar strike from Ademola Lookman.
North Macedonia midfielder Elmas rolled home the winner from substitute Victor Osimhen’s pass following Atalanta goalkeeper Marco Carnesecchi’s poor clearance, making sure that Napoli stayed fourth.
Mazzarri’s team are fourth in the league, seven points behind Inter.
Maurizio Sarri suggested he could quit SS Lazio after his team fell 2-1 at the division’s bottom team US Salernitana, losing thanks to a wonder strike from old boy Antonio Candreva.
“If it turns out that I’m the problem I’ll take responsibility and I’ll tell the owner to make a change,” Sarri told reporters.
Lazio are 10th on 17 points following their sixth defeat of what has been a difficult league season after finishing second last term.
Additional reporting by Reuters
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