Breaking: Antonio Cassano announces his retirement
Eight days after signing for Hellas Verona on a season-long deal, Italian striker Antonio Cassano has had a dramatic change of heart and has decided to retire from professional football. La Gazzetta dello Sport writes that the 35-year-old had decided to quit for family reasons.
The player is expected to make an official announcement later this afternoon to clarify his decision but it is unlikely that we will see him on a football field ever again.
Cassano makes his debut for Verona in 15-0 win over a Representative XI
Antonio Cassano retires, then un-retires and vows to ‘have fun’ with Verona • Former Italy forward first tells team-mates he wants to quit football • Cassano, 35, then calls press conference to say he has changed his mind
The former Italy forward Antonio Cassano has sensationally “un-retired” from football a few hours after telling his Verona team-mates that he was missing his family too much and wanted to quit football.
The former Italy international joined Verona only eight days ago and made the decision to leave the club and retire from football early on Tuesday. However, in the afternoon he held a press conference to tell the media that he had re-considered and was now looking forward to “having a fun season” with his new club. “This morning I had a moment of weakness, a ‘fall’, but then I thought about it again. If I had decided to go through with this gut-feeling it would have been a catastrophic choice and I’ve gone with my gut-feeling too many times in my career.
“I had a sudden feeling of missing my family and I got too emotional. But now I want to have a fantastic season. I’ve already lost seven kilos and I am fully motivated. Don’t be irritated by all this, in two games’ time we will forget all about this.”
Verona, meanwhile, have promised that they will ensure that his family move closer to him.
Cassano started his professional career at Bari in 1999 and played for, among others, Roma, Real Madrid, Milan and Internazionale. One of the most talented players of his generation, he has won 39 caps for Italy but missed the World Cup triumph in 2006 after a poor season with Real Madrid. In 2011, he had minor surgery to repair an atrial septal defect in his heart and returned to playing a few months later.
Cassano started only 19 league games for Real Madrid and was sent out on loan to Sampdoria for the 2007-08 season. He then joined Sampdoria on a permanent deal and played some of the best football of his career there. He returned to the club in 2015 for another season and a half.
He had already played in two friendlies for Verona, impressing in both, before Tuesday’s series of events. Verona will now hope he can form a productive partnership up front with Giampaolo Pazzini, whom he played with at Sampdoria.
Kaveh SolhekolVerified account @SkyKaveh 16m16 minutes ago More Ex Italy forward Antonio Cassano leaves Verona for second time in week. Retired last Tuesday. Changed mind hours later. Changed mind today
鮮吊甬仔
2017-07-24 20:04
佢咩事呢
carlos足球會
2017-07-24 21:38
羅力亞:Kaveh SolhekolVerified account @SkyKaveh 16m16 minutes ago More Ex Italy forward Antonio Cassano leaves Verona for second time in week. Retired last Tuesday. Changed mind hours later. Changed mind today [表情] [表情] .. (2017-07-24 19:28)
唔通真係short左
icemanbergkamp
2017-07-24 21:48
彈出彈入...
myrmidon
2017-07-24 22:02
維羅納依家知上左賊船未
羅力亞
2017-07-24 22:36
Verona forward Antonio Cassano has reportedly decided to retire a second time in the space of a week.
Sky Sport Italia cites “high stress levels” on Cassano’s part, given his family have not joined him in northern Italy.
However, Premium Sport has followed up by claiming the former Italy star has only decided to leave Verona
羅力亞
2017-07-24 22:37
未必掛靴，可能只係離隊
羅力亞
2017-07-24 23:29
Fabrizio RomanoVerified account @FabrizioRomano 8m8 minutes ago More OFFICIAL - Antonio Cassano announces his retirement from football. 🇮🇹
Antonio Cassano: Former Italy international announces his retirement - again
Antonio Cassano's eventful career has come to an eventful conclusion.
The former Roma and Real Madrid forward caused raised eyebrows earlier this month when he announced he was retiring just eight days after signing for Serie A side Hellas Verona.
But within hours he had a change of heart and said he would stay, adding he wanted to "rise to the challenge" and have a "crazy season". Six days later, and after playing in two pre-season friendlies for his new side, the 35-year-old has again said he is retiring.
Cassano, who won 39 caps for Italy, has not played a league game since May 2016 and was released by Sampdoria in January.
On Monday, his wife Carolina Marcialis said he would leave Verona but still hoped to find another club. Cassano later clarified that he had retired.
"As opposed to what appeared on my wife's official social profiles, I would like to clarify my future," he said in a statement.
"Carolina got it wrong. After thinking and reflecting in the end I decided - Antonio Cassano will not be playing football any more.
"I apologise to the city of Verona, to all the fans, to president Maurizio Setti, to sports director Filippo Fusco, to coach Fabio Pecchia, to my team-mates and to the medical and technical staff.
"For a 35-year-old man it's the motivation that guides my life, and at this moment I feel that my priority is that I'll be staying close to my children and my wife."
Cassano and his family live in Genoa, which is about 300km (186 miles) away from Verona.
Having called a news conference last week to announce his retirement, Cassano told the reporters who attended that he had been homesick but regretted saying he would quit.
"I had a moment of weakness," he said at the time. "I had a meeting with Fabio Pecchia and the others to say that I wanted to stop.
"I was yearning for my family but the club's management has asked them to come and they gave me the strength to carry on. I want to rise to the challenge and have a crazy season."
Cassano started his career at his hometown club Bari before rising to prominence at Roma, where he scored 39 goals in 118 games.
He then had an unsuccessful season at Real Madrid before spells at Sampdoria, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Parma.
Cassano, who scored 10 times for Italy, was diagnosed with a defect in his heart and had surgery in November 2011.
He was fined by Uefa after saying he hoped there were no homosexuals in the Italy squad for Euro 2012.
Cassano retires: "I apologize to everybody, my family is my top priority"
The decision now seems to be made: Antonio Cassano retires from football. After having excluded that possibility at first, the player has now communicated his choice through his wife's social accounts as it was the case last time. Here is his communicate: "On the contrary of what appeared on my wife's social accounts, I'd like to make things clear. Carolina was wrong, after I thought it through, at the end I decided that Antonio Cassano won't play football no more. I apologize to Verona's city, to their fans, to the president Maurizio Setti, to the sportive director Filippo Fusco, to the coach Fabio Pecchia, to my teammates and members of staff. A 35-year-old man must follow his motivations and right now being close to my children and wife is my top priority. Antonio Cassano"
Cassano is not finished yet: he'll evaluate offers
Never say never. With Antonio Cassano, it seems like it always has to be pointed out: after not long has passed after the official resolution with Hellas Verona, Fantantonio will think about playing again after discussions with his family. He will continue to play: not with Verona where is story is officially over. Where? He will evaluate the eventual offers and if he gets tempted, then we will see him again on the field. Today, the only real hypothesis is Virtus Entella, who have been courting him for a while: nothing has happened yet but it is a concrete possibility. It will be only Cassano that will evaluate the offers because he separated from his agent Tinti. It is a finale that will be written all over again.
After appearing to retire twice in the space of a week, Antonio Cassano says he is ready to play again.
鮮吊甬仔
2017-07-31 22:51
羅力亞:After appearing to retire twice in the space of a week, Antonio Cassano says he is ready to play again. [表情] [表情] [表情] (2017-07-31 22:37)
羅力亞
2017-08-01 00:26
Antonio Cassano backtracks on retirement talk
By PA Sport Last Updated: 31/07/17 3:18pm
After appearing to retire twice in the space of a week, Antonio Cassano says he is ready to play again.
The former Italy forward, now 35, left newly-promoted Serie A club Verona last week after expressing a desire to retire from football for family reasons.
On that basis, Verona allowed Cassano to rescind his contract despite only being there for three weeks, but now he appears to have different ideas.
The Bari-born player told La Stampa: "Hellas Verona did not spark any spark in me, I knew that immediately. It's like being with a woman and then realising she doesn't want to spend time with you.
"It was a question of feeling, of atmosphere. I told president (Maurizio) Setti, director of sport (Filippo) Fusco and the boss, (Fabio) Pecchia, as much. I thought it was best to leave and not drag things out."
Cassano, the former Roma and Real Madrid forward, insists he never said he was planning to retire.
When asked about reported interest from Serie B outfit Virtus Entella, he said: "When I spoke to Verona I never said, 'I am retiring'. I challenge anyone to prove the opposite is true.
"I offered to pay the compensation myself if I find another team.
"Of course I want to play on, I have more than one idea, but no offers. Entella? That would be a great challenge, attempting to win promotion to Serie A.
"If anyone wants me, call me, I don't have any agents. The deadline is September, after that I'll just stay at home."
Cassano: "I'll retire if I'm not in a team by September"
It's been 474 days without football for Antonio Cassano. Fantantonio has given an interview to the Gazzetta dello Sport: "Someone who knows how to play can stay on the side but I've given myself a deadline. If the right call hasn't been made by September, I'll retire. I'm a free agent: if someone would like to have me they'll know how to contact me. Right now there are Entella and Cagliari, nothing else. I've got a great bound with Gozzi beyond the football matters. In last January there has been a handshake but I then didn't feel like playing in Serie B. I've told him, he's understood me and I think him for that. I'm now ready: bringing Entella in Serie A could become my dream. On the other hand, I could find Tibaudi at Cagliari, my historic physiologist, he knows how to train me. I also love Sardinia and their people, I go there on holiday every year".
