Francesco Albertini

Central Defender - Benevento U20
11 Oct 2029
Thursday
Process

Marked for Francesco Albertini

86 Edition

The Benevento Herald

20 Mar 2028
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Enrico Parise damages knee ligaments — 37 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 37 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Player ratings

Both of them Oier Zarraga's — 8.51

2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.51, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.

Squad

Getting past Gianmarco Vannucchi has become the hardest job in the division

21 clean sheets and counting. Forwards used to back themselves here; now they shoot early, shoot wide, and look for somebody to blame.

Match

Benevento cannot stop winning

5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Player ratings

Mattia Maita, 33, rolls back the years — 7.84

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.84 at 33, and nobody on the pitch was better.

The dugout

Manuel Esposito: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Benevento have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Oier Zarraga is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.37 with 16 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Tempers go at Benevento

Gianmarco Vannucchi was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Oier Zarraga the difference as Benevento beat Siracusa

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Oier Zarraga. 2‑0 against Siracusa, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

In brief