Mario Cassano
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Mario Cassano (born 8 October 1983) is an Italian former 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 played as a
goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...
.


Club career

Born in
Vizzolo Predabissi Vizzolo Predabissi (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italy, Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan. Vizzolo Predabissi borders the following municipalities: Colturano, Dresano, ...
, Lombardy, Cassano started his senior career at Serie D side
Voghera image:Voghera Castle.jpg, The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching. Voghera (Emilian dialect, Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin language, Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia i ...
, located at near-by province. In summer 2001, he joined A.C. Fiorentina and played twice for first team. In August 2002, after the bankrupt of ''La Viola'', he joined
Empoli F.C. Empoli Football Club is an Italian professional football club based in Empoli, Tuscany. Founded in 1920, the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs not based in a provincial capital city that have participated in Serie A. Emp ...
which also located in
Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...
. After 3 seasons as backup goalkeeper, he joined Serie B side
Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...
, where he played as first choice except 2006–07 season behind Ferdinando Coppola (and also injured) and first season shared the role with
Gabriele Aldegani Gabriele Aldegani (born 10 May 1976) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper, who serves as a goalkeeping coach for Latvia national team. Football career Aldegani started his senior career at Miranese of Serie D ...
. In 2009–10 season, he swapped club with
Christian Puggioni Christian Puggioni (born 17 January 1981) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career In January 2007, Puggioni joined Reggina. On 2 July 2015, Puggioni signed with Sampdoria on a free transfer. He made his debut with Sa ...
, both joined the team on loan. In January 2010,
Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...
signed Cassano on loan, due to the injury of their first choice
Luca Castellazzi Luca Castellazzi (born 19 July 1975) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He serves as the goalkeeper coach of AC Milan young team under 17. Club career Early career Castellazzi began his career at Monza. He ...
and sent Vincenzo Fiorillo to Reggina on loan. However, he worked as backup of
Marco Storari Marco Storari (born 7 January 1977) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. After a lengthy spell in Italy's lower leagues, he arrived in Serie A aged 27. Steady performances for Messina prompted his signing by A.C. Milan i ...
, another new signing. At the end of the loan spell, he came back to Piacenza. Cassano was the first choice until December 2011. He was questioned by the prosecutor on 21 March 2012. Cassano was banned from football in June 2012.


Italian football scandal

On 1 June 2012 the prosecutor requested to ban Cassano for 5 years due to involvement in 2011–12 Italian football scandal. It was suspected that the match AlbinoLeffe–Piacenza on 20 December 2010,
Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...
–Piacenza on 19 March 2011 were fixed. Eventually FIGC announced to ban him for 5 years on 18 June 2012.


International career

Cassano has capped for Italy U20 team, the feeder team of U21 team, which the coach also tested several other players. He also received several U21 call-up but did not play.


References


External links

*
AIC Football profile

National team data
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cassano, Mario 1983 births Living people People from Vizzolo Predabissi Italian men's footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players ASD AVC Vogherese 1919 players ACF Fiorentina players Empoli FC players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players AS Reggina 1914 players UC Sampdoria players Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Milan 21st-century Italian sportsmen