Life can be so cruel at times, and in the case of Piermario Morosini it appeared to be especially merciless.
A midfielder with Serie B outfit Livorno, Morosini died Saturday after suffering cardiac arrest and collapsing on the field during a match in Pescara, Italy. He was 25.
It was the latest in a long series of fatal tragedies to befall Morosini. Both of his parents died before he turned 18. Shortly after, his disabled brother committed suicide, leaving him alone with his handicapped elder sister.
But despite all the sadness in his life, Morosini did not feel sorry for himself. Instead, he carried himself with a quiet dignity, and never let the heartbreak of losing his loved ones stand in the way of reaching his dreams of playing professional soccer.
“If there was ever a guy who had an excuse to quit or lock himself in his room, it was him. But he never did that. He was always so determined,” Andrea Lombardo recalled in an interview with sportsnet.ca.
A former forward with Toronto FC, Lombardo played alongside Morosini in 2004 with the reserve side of Serie A outfit Atalanta, a team that included defender Marco Motta (now with Catania) and Andrea Consigli, currently the starting goalkeeper for Atalanta’s senior team.
Lombardo remembers Morosini as a soft-spoken person and a model professional who liked to joke around with his teammates, and as a stout defensive midfielder who played the game like he lived life: with great focus and fierce determination.
“On the field he was the way he was as a person. He wasn’t flashy; he always got the job done. He did what he had to do and he was very consistent, and I think that’s what pushed him through,” Lombardo said.
Born in Bergamo, Morosini began his soccer journey with the youth academy of his hometown club Atalanta. He served as captain of Atalanta’s primavera side (reserve team) but never broke through to the senior club and was eventually sold to Udinese.
“We had a pretty good team,” Lombardo said. “He was always a nice guy. If you pictured what the stereotypical soccer player would be, he was the opposite. … He was always upbeat. He just wanted to play soccer.”
Morosini played a handful of games for Udinese in Serie A (Italy’s topflight) before he went out on loan to a number of teams in Serie B, the Italian second division. Ports of call included Vicenza, Bolgona, Reggina, Padova and Livorno. Along the way he represented Italy at every level from under-17 up to under-21.
“He was a highly touted talent in Italy and that’s why he bounced around, but if you look at the teams he played for, we’re not talking about lightweights. The places he played are important places, teams with real history,” Lombardo said.
Lombardo and his primavera teammates attended the funeral for Morosini’s brother, as did the entire senior team. After a short period of bereavement, Morosini was back on the field, undaunted and looking to continue his budding career.
“His brother’s death was tough for him. He had a couple of weeks off and then he was back at it with us. The strength of character was something that was part of his game. He was a strong guy who led by example,” Lombardo explained.
What was he like as a player?
Lombardo recalled: “He was very tactically sound; that was his best quality that impressed me. He was a big guy and was a strong presence on the field. He knew how to break up the play. He wasn’t a creative player by any means but he did his job very well. He ran in the midfield and won back balls and did the simple things right.”
Instead of wallowing in self pity, Morosini maintained a positive attitude and used the death of his parents to inspire him to carry on.
“He didn’t show it on his face, everything that happened to him, He was always soft spoken, and very humble. He just wanted to play soccer and he just wanted to make it. He wanted to do it for his parents,” Lombrado said.