Bubacarr Marong (born 10 January 2000) is a Gambian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

Club career

Marong reached Italy in 2017 as a

refugee A refugee, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is a person "forced to flee their own country and seek safety in another country. They are unable to return to their own country because of feared persecution as ...

from his native Gambia, reaching the Sicilian coast of

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an important fishing port and the mai ...

after having spent months in

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

to save enough money to pay for the sailing trip. He was then relocated to

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

, where he was noticed by Salvatore Tedesco, a former footballer and brother of

Giacomo Giacomo () is an Italian given name corresponding to English James (name), James. It is the Italian version of the Hebrew name Jacob (name), Jacob. People bearing the name include: *Giacomo Acerbo (1888–1969), Italian economi ...

and Giovanni Tedesco, as well as Paolo Calafiore, head coach of

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football.Official ...

amateurs Parmonval, based in the Palermo neighbourhood of Mondello, who eventually signed him, and with whom he played 30 games. In 2019, following

's exclusion from professional football and the club being readmitted to

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

under a new property, he was signed by the ''Rosanero'' for the 2019–20 season, during which he however failed in making his debut; despite that, he was confirmed by Palermo for the club's upcoming

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

season. On 11 April 2021, Marong finally made his debut on a ''Rosanero'' shirt under head coach Giacomo Filippi, playing the full 90 minutes in a 2020–21 Serie C league game against Vibonese. He was subsequently featured consistently for the ending part of the season, including all of the four promotion playoff games; his performances won him a new four-year professional contract, which he signed in August 2021. On 29 July 2022, he was loaned out to newly-promoted Serie C club Gelbison. After the loan deal with Gelbison ended, Marong returned to Palermo and was included as part of the ''Primavera'' Under-19 squad for the season. After making only a handful of appearances for the Under-19 team, Marong left Palermo on 30 June 2024 following the expiration of his contract. On 27 August 2024, Marong signed a one-year contract for Serie C club

Career statistics

Club

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marong, Bubacarr 2000 births Living people Gambian men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Palermo FC players Serie C players Gambian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Gambian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Gelbison Cilento Vallo della Lucania players Taranto FC 1927 players