Berardi and Belotti: the future is yours!
Belotti, 23, is the league’s leading scorer with four goals netted in the opening two Serie A games. His figures could have been even higher if he had scored two penalties against AC Milan and Bologna.
Berardi, 22, has already netted seven goals in as much games in all competitions this season. He has played 92 games in Serie A since the 2013-14 campaign scoring 40 goals, nobody has better figures than the Sassuolo star in Italy’s top flight in the last three seasons.
They are young, they are strong, and they are strikers. After Italy’s golden age of attackers with Del Piero, Totti, Inzaghi, Vieri, Montella and many others who were among the best strikers around the world back in the 90s, the azzurri’s following generation – those born between the 80s and the 90s like Cassano, Balotelli, Gilardino and Giuseppe Rossi – failed to live up to expectations and couldn’t quite reach the same standards of their predecessors.
Belotti has been called to Italy national team by new boss Giampiero Ventura who coached the former Palermo man last season at Torino. Berardi has yet to make his senior debut with Italy National team, but Ventura will give him a chance very soon.
Like every youngster, however, they have yet to improve especially when it comes to keep nerves during games. Berardi has 40 goals in Serie A, but he has also picked 33 yellow cards and three red. Belotti is still unable to find consistency in terms of concentration throughout a whole game and the two penalties he fluffed this season prove that there is still plenty of room to improve.
Anyway, there is only little doubt that Giampiero Ventura will count on them for the qualifying campaign to Russia 2018 World Cup: B&B can lead new Italy’s strikers golden generation.
Alessandro Di Gioia, translated by Lorenzo Bettoni @lorebetto
