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 ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring 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 intercepting o ...

Club career

Born in

Vizzolo Predabissi Vizzolo Predabissi (Milanese: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Milan in the Italian region Lombardy, located about southeast of Milan. Vizzolo Predabissi borders the following municipalities: Colturano, Dresano, Ca ...

, Lombardy, Cassano started his senior career at Serie D side

Voghera The Castle of Voghera in a 19th-century etching. Voghera ( Vogherese dialect of Emilian: ''Vughera''; Latin: ''Forum Iulii Iriensium'') is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Pavia in the Italian region Lombardy. The population was 39,374 ...

, located at near-by province. In summer 2001, he joined

A.C. Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

and played twice for first team. In August 2002, after the bankrupt of ''La Viola'', he joined

Empoli F.C. Empoli Football Club, commonly referred to as Empoli, is an Italian football club based in Empoli, Metropolitan City of Florence. Founded in 1920, the side is part of a select group of Italian football clubs that do not belong to a provincial ...

which also located in

Tuscany it, Toscano (man) it, Toscana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Citizenship , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = Italian , demogra ...

. After 3 seasons as backup goalkeeper, he joined Serie B side

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

, 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 a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Football career Aldegani started his senior career at Miranese of Serie D. in 1994 he was signed by A.C. Milan reserve team in 1994. He spent 6 se ...

. In 2009–10 season, he swapped club with Christian Puggioni, 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. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

signed Cassano on loan, due to the injury of their first choice Luca Castellazzi and sent

Vincenzo Fiorillo Vincenzo Fiorillo (born 13 January 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Salernitana. Club career Sampdoria Born in Genoa, Fiorillo started playing football in Nuova Oregina Calcio from the Oreg ...

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 ...

, 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 (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", 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 ...

–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 footballers Italy youth international footballers Association football goalkeepers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players A.S.D. AVC Vogherese 1919 players ACF Fiorentina players Empoli F.C. players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players Reggina 1914 players U.C. Sampdoria players Footballers from Lombardy Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Milan