Charlie Wood
In a gripping Champions League semi-final between Inter Milan and Barcelona, 37-year-old Francesco Acerbi defied age and defensive instincts, scoring a dramatic 93rd-minute equaliser to force extra-time – setting the stage for the home side’s eventual winner.
Although teammate Davide Frattesi may have stolen headlines with his composed winner in an otherwise chaotic two legs, the Italian veteran’s unlikely near-post effort past Wojciech Szczesny turned the tide.
However, the local hero’s journey has been far longer than the fifteen-mile trip from his birthplace to the San Siro.
The journeyman played for five Italian sides before settling down at Inter Milan, including bitter rivals AC Milan, but his toughest challenges took place away from the sporting arena.
After losing his father in 2013, the centre-back suffered with depression and turned to alcohol as an escape.
Later in the year, after signing for Sassuolo, Acerbi was diagnosed with testicular cancer during a regular health checkup.
Despite the tumour being removed, the Italian was re-diagnosed in January 2014 and underwent chemotherapy for 3 months.
Remarkably, he returned to first team action in just October of that year, continuing to train with the side whilst his treatment was ongoing.
“He was very brave and an example for all people who have the same disease,” said Sassuolo fan and sports photographer Luca Bizzarri. “He was a lion, as he likes to call himself.”
Acerbi has remained incredibly transparent around the difficult periods of his career. While displaying brutal honesty in his interview with La Repubblica he said: “After my father died…I hit rock bottom.”
“I started drinking and believe me, I’d drink anything.”
“It might seem like a terrible paradox, but the cancer saved me. I had something new to fight against, a limit to overcome. It was as if I got to start life all over again and saw the world in a way I’d completely forgotten.”
As a testament to his character, Acerbi played 149 consecutive appearances in all competitions between October 2015 and January 2019, playing more minutes than any player in Serie A in 2017.
Since joining Inter Milan, initially as a squad rotation player, the physically imposing centre-back has become an integral part of Simone Inzaghi’s 3-5-2 formation.
This Inter Milan side will now play in their second Champions League final in three years after the left-footed defender scored on his unfavoured right foot.
The image of the battle-scarred Acerbi, unsure of how to celebrate his first goal in European football other than to jump gleefully and fall to his knees topless, will remain in the memories of many football fans; symbolic of a life of defiance and redemption.
Charlie Wood
Featured image courtesy of @zachr1992 via Unsplash. Image use license found here (Unsplash). No changes were made to this image.
In article image 1 courtesy of @francescoacerbi88 via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 2 courtesy of @francescoacerbi88 via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
In article image 3 courtesy of @francescoacerbi88 via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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