Maccarone's age ain't nothing but a number
Sep 27, 2017 - 3:09 AM One of Massimo Maccarone's long-time Serie A rivals is convinced the Brisbane Roar veteran can still be a potent attacking weapon despite his advancing years.Arguably the highest-profile recruit coming into the A-League this season, the 38-year-old has been written off in some quarters as a spent force due to his age and the physical demands of the competition.
But former Roma, Torino, Udinese and Venezia striker Paolo Poggi reckons marquee man Maccarone is poised to prove his doubters wrong.
Poggi said he played against Maccarone "many times" and caught up with him twice over dinner on a recent visit to Australia, as part of a delegation from cashed-up Serie B club Venezia that formalised a partnership deal with A-League aspirants Brisbane City.
"What I got was that he's very enthusiastic to be here," Poggi told AAP.
"And his family is here now, so I saw him as very, very happy and I think he has the mind to be still a very good player.
"Of course, he's old. But it depends on the mind.
"If you have the right mind you can play until you are 45.
"He's one of the best strikers (Italy has) had in the last decade.
"Physically he's good and two years ago he scored 13 goals in Serie A. You can't forget those numbers. They speak for themselves.
"I'm sure he can do something really good in Brisbane and the A-League."
Maccarone has enjoyed a productive pre-season, scoring five goals in a series of friendly games and netting five last week in an internal trial.
While he is recognised as a quality marksman, it is his link-up play with other attackers that has the potential to drive the Roar to success this season.
"He's getting fit and we could see, in his last two games he was getting much better," fellow Brisbane recruit Fahid Ben Khalfallah told AAP.
"He understands football. With people like that, you don't have to explain to them 10 times or 20 times what they have to do. They already know.
"He played at the highest level for ages, and last year he was still playing in Serie A. I don't know if there's a lot of players or strikers in Australia who can play in Serie A."
Source: AAP
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