MILAN – It happens. You don't always agree with a decision to start with, but then you reflect on it for while, evaluate things and start to think that, deep down, it's not so bad. In fact, you like it.
Initially, Federico Dimarco didn't like playing full back when he was put there at the regional try-outs. Understandable, kids want to score goals rather than stay there at the back. But more or less everyone had noticed Dimarco's running strengths at the hotbed of talent crafted by Giuliano Rusca, Inter's head of grassroots activities and Federico's former coach.
He had this uncanny ability to start from deep on the left wing and arrive without having to break his stride. The rest he'd leave up to that wand of a left foot, capable of caressing the ball in every which way. It's a gift that not only Inter have been able to enjoy, seeing as Federico lit up the European Under-19 Championship this summer with four goals (three penalties and a free kick), dragging the Azzurrini to the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in the process. Not everyone will remember his first appearance for Italy, however, as an extraordinarily talented youngster playing above his age bracket at the EURO Under-17.
Domestically, the Nerazzurri shirt is a gift that keeps on giving for Dima, a passion he's always had due to family tradition. He's been able to wear it right from Inter's Pulcini C side, after the club made sure to secure his services following his first trial as a child.
As hinted above, he's never been shy of the goal either, our Federico. Scoring has always been in his locker, despite playing in defence. Be it at Inter or in the national team, his ability to put the ball where he wants has always come up trumps. Nevertheless, the real secret to his ability is found elsewhere. It began when his coaches told him he had to play deeper as a full back and developed from there. Fede enjoys the discipline of the position and understands that different qualities are needed to play there, things that come from inside and cannot be taught. This is what has surprised all his coaches at the Inter youth academy in a positive way: Dimarco knows how to read football matches.
Obviously, at youth-team level you don't have full scouting reports on the opposition, but Dima just needs two or three moments to discern tendencies, movements and characteristics. A full scan completed in a few minutes and then acted upon. The process of how to counter his opponents' attributes begins in haste, and here it's they who should be really worried because Dimarco's technical and tactical reading of the game is superlative. His footballing brain is like that of a mature player, just like how in tune Federico is with his body. He knows how to adjust to an opponent's pace, strength or trickery. It's similar to his ability to respond to instructions, another sign he's destined for the heights of the game.
Milanese born and bred, Dimarco has been at Inter for eight years, during which time he steadily climbed the ladder until, at 16 years old, his coach from a young age Salvatore Cerrone gave him his debut in the Primavera. He then spent time training with the first team before going elsewhere to learn the ropes, as they say. Firstly he had a spell on loan at Ascoli in Serie B, where he did enough to please the demanding locals, and now he's been loaned to Empoli, a proper club where they play proper football.
The overlapping runs, that left foot, a sudden switch of play or an accurate forward pass – Federico Dimarco developed as a player at Inter's breeding ground. Now he's ready to show everyone his qualities on the Serie A stage.
Technique and physical prowess are not always enough to reach the top. You need quality, you need brains. You need to know how to choose, to ask questions and then to decide the right course of action. Dima has that ability, which is what sets him out as the next big star for the Nerazzurri, the team he has always supported.
Carlo Pizzigoni
