FRANCE 98 – General Media News Template

Born and brought up at Cinecitta where Fellini made his movies, Alessandro Nesta is ready for a major role with Italy at the World Cup finals this summer.

The 22-year-old Lazio defender, who in two years has come from nowhere to a first-team at place club and national level, read his future not in a crystal ball but a newspaper. “I was eight years old, and I’d seen in the paper that Lazio were having a trial, so I went along. Perhaps I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t seen it.”

Nesta came up through the teenage ranks, joining Lazio’s first-team squad at the tender age of 16. “It was like a dream, but I was with a group in a really strong youth side who were always winning trophies and league titles, and there were three of four of us who joined the first team.”

The turning point came for Nesta in the 1994-95 season, when he made his Serie A debut and won the “Primavera” (reserve league) title with Lazio. Nesta was already getting noticed in Italy, but in that first season in the top-flight he also got himself noticed in Britain, when he broke Paul Gascoigne’s leg during a training match. “He came at me from behind for a tackle, it wasn’t me who tackled him,” said the Italian. “And it’s the only time like that has happened to me.” Next stop for Nesta was winning the Under-21 European championships in 1996 against Spain at Barcelona, and a few months later his first call-up for the senior squad, after injury ruled Ciro Ferrara out of Euro 96.

Nesta was a spectator in England, and by his own admission, the youngster was not really ready for a major international competition. However, as the months rolled by, the young Roman continued to prove he was a gladiator made of the right stuff, becoming a first-team regular as Italy continued their World Cup qualifying campaign.

This season, Lazio have been challenging on all three fronts the Serie A, the Italian Cup and the UEFA Cup, and Nesta has been at the heart of the best defence in Italy.