Genoa – Campania is always happy for the Sampdoria Women. The first victory of the season came away against Pomigliano, in the Italian Cup, on 11 October. Three days later the encore against Napoli, for the first three points in the championship. Which on Saturday became 6 thanks to Torre del Greco’s blitz, again against Pomigliano. A treble of precious successes for Salvatore Mango who has been infallible in his homeland so far. Genoese of Neapolitan origins, the Sampdoria Women coach led the Blucerchiate to safety last season, taking over from Antonio Cincotta at the end of February. And now it aims to repeat itself after a troubled summer in which the Blucerchiati women’s team seriously risked disappearing.
Dealing with the many problems of an inherited club on the verge of bankruptcy, at first the new owners, Matteo Manfredi and Andrea Radrizzani had expressed their intention to renounce participation in the Women’s Serie A. But then, after a long back and forth, the decision was made to continue regardless of the support of new investors. And, even if they started training very late, without the pre-season retreat, Cecilia Re and her teammates are proving that they can fight for a new sporting venture.
At the end of August, in Bogliasco, Mango started working with around ten remaining Blucerchiate players, starting with captain Stefania Tarenzi, together with some Primavera players and some girls on trial, such as Nora Heroum, the Finnish national defender who had been released from Parma. In a few days, the manager of the Blucerchiati women’s sector, Marco Palmieri, has put together a very respectable squad, despite a flash and low-cost transfer market.
In just a few weeks, a perfect alchemy has been created between old and new and the results are visible. And the great athletic work carried out in Bogliasco allowed the team to quickly recover the physical gap with the other rivals. Now Sampdoria Women are seventh with 6 points in the standings. Against Pomigliano, the penalty scored by the Brazilian Sena, known as Taty in the 80th minute, former player of the match, 7 goals last year with the bells, was decisive. Penalties and refereeing were contested by Pomigliano, who even expressed his intention to withdraw from Serie A. In this case, with 9 teams, there would no longer be direct relegation but only the team defeated in the playouts would go to Serie B. Samp Women, in this case, would lose the 3 points gained against Pomgiliano, but the same would happen to Milan (which would drop to 4) while Sassuolo, who drew with the bells, would go to 3 on par with Doria.
While waiting to understand how the Pomigliano case will end, Sampdoria Women still have many reasons to be happy and proud. At Torre del Greco, Mango’s team deserved the victory by attacking from the first minutes, with chances from Heroum and Schatzer and the post taken by De Rita. Blucerchiate denote solidity, compactness and versatility. In the last match Mango won using a 4-5-1 with Taty as the only striker, focusing on the insertions of the midfielders but his Samp team also used other formations in the championship such as the 4-3-3 and the 4-4-2.
Against Pomigliano the surprise move was the advancement of the Finnish national team Heroum to midfield, while Re, who has had a career as a playmaker, continues to excel in the unprecedented role of central defender. Among the happy notes also the tests of the young people. Born in 2005, National Under 19 team, midfielder Eva Schatzer plays with the confidence of a veteran. And among the certainties there is Michela Giordano, a winger who Mango is often deploying in a more advanced position, already two goals this year. Both are on loan from Juventus although Giordano, an Under 23 international, is in his third year with the Blucerchiati. And in the Italian Under 23 there are also Veronica Battelani, midfielder and Asia Bragonzi, attacker, who entered the final with Pomigliano, with the latter earning the penalty-victory.
Among the inconveniences that Sampdoria Women have to face is that of home games to play in Vercelli. With the new FIGC regulations regarding facilities in the Women’s Serie A, 3 Campanili in Bogliasco was no longer up to standard. The hope for returning to Genoa is called Sciorba but to get the OK, some work on the lighting system and some permits from the fire brigade are still needed. The next match, against Fiorentina, (Sunday 12.30 pm), will again be played at the Silvio Piola. Next up will be the away match against Milan. After having won the direct clashes against Napoli and Pomigliano so far, the objective is the first coup against a big team, with Viola and Rossonere who last year participated in the Scudetto championship then won by Roma.
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