MILAN – Becoming captain of legendary Italian club Torino is an honour that only a select few can claim. The armband that once adorned the left arm of Valentino Mazzola, Giorgio Ferrini and Cesare Martin – to name but a few – now belongs to Marco Benassi. As has always been the case with Marco, there's never any great fanfare accompanying this young player; just humility and total dedication.
In fact, these exact qualities ensured first Modena came knocking and then Inter in 2011, thanks to the expert judgement of the club's head of youth football Roberto Samaden.
Upon his arrival at the Nerazzurri youth academy, the youngster joined the Allievi Nazionali before quickly moving onto the Berretti side coached at the time by Sergio Zanetti, Javier's younger brother. Marco adored the determination with which Inter's famous captain would step out onto the pitch, armband on one arm, pennant in his other hand.
Benassi's ease across the ground, speed of thought and his willingness to pass and move were his outstanding qualities as an academy player, all of which came to light in a Nerazzurri shirt. The club's talent at unearthing and developing future talent sat well with Marco's genuine and grounded desire to make a success of his career.
The midfielder, who grew up on the outskirts of Modena, has always been a respectful lad. Speaking of his formative years at his local club, he once said: "I can only be grateful to Modena – they did so much for my development."
Benassi had to fight his corner to get his footballing career off the ground, not least because his mother was happy for him to play any sport he liked – rhythmic gymnastics included – provided it wasn’t football.
Yet Mrs Benassi was merely showing the kind of protective instinct shared by all mothers and that causes all sons no end of embarrassment. Once, Benassi lost his temper with his mother after she complimented Andrea Stramaccioni at the end of a Primavera training session, fearing that her manners would be mistaken for sycophancy.
Benassi needn’t have worried. Stramaccioni had already realised that the shy, six-foot-nothing midfielder – as tidy on the pitch as he was in his appearance – had exactly what it took to make it as a footballer.
Indeed, the Primavera coached bumped Benassi up from the Berretti squad so he could work with him, alongside his good friend Simone Pasa, Ibrahima Mbaye and Niccolo Belloni (now on loan at Avellino and enjoying an excellent start to the season). The four formed part of the squad that won the 2012/13 NextGen Series – the precursor to the current UEFA Youth League.
It was Stramaccioni who gave Benassi his first-team debut at Inter. Though just 18 years old, the youngster had matured into a midfielder capable of providing vital protection to the back four while at the same time helping to construct the build-up play.
Benassi was already a player with great vision and an eye for goal, not to mention a knack for drifting into the box at just the right time to receive a killer pass. All of these qualities were on show when he scored his first senior goal, against Cluj in the Europa League on 21 February 2013. Antonio Cassano dinked a delicious ball over the defence and into the path of Benassi, who simply poked home past the Cluj goalkeeper and wheeled off in jubilant celebration.
That might all seem a very long time ago now, but Benassi is still only 22. And despite his relatively young age, Benassi has proven that he can bear the burden of the captain’s armband both at Torino and at U21 level for Italy. Few would bet against a senior cap arriving in the near future.
The road to footballing stardom is a complex one, but this much is clear: Benassi is well on his way to becoming a top-level footballer, and the team at the Centro Sportivo Giacinto Facchetti have helped unearth another gem.
Aniello Luciano
