The "sons of" sometimes have privileges in football, to the point of annoying some.
Romano Floriani Mussolini is another kind of player whose name directly evokes one of his ancestors.
Great-grandson of Benito Mussolini, Italian dictator between the 20s and 40s, the young Romano (17) has just signed his first professional contract at Lazio Rome.
A destination for the right side which is all the more talk in Italy that the Roman club is stamped with an extreme right label.
A sulphurous reputation that Lazio owes to a fringe of its supporters whose extremist political affinities are assumed.
Some tifosi are nostalgic, even without having known this regime, of the time when the "Duce" reigned in Italy.
This weekend, Romano Mussolini made his debut for the Lazio primavera in the lost game against the Juve primavera.
The great grandson of Duce, born in 2003, evolves to the position of right side.
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- FrSerieA (@FrSerieA) February 3, 2021
Often at the origin of slippages, Lazio was the subject of a controversy when one of its players, Paulo Di Canio, had made several fascist salutes, especially during derbies against AS Roma in 2005. the only people who had supported the initiatives of the former striker was none other than Alessandra Mussolini, Romano's mother.
She was then a Member of the European Parliament and commented: “How pleased me with this Roman greeting”.
The famous "Roman salute" being a gesture belonging to the fascist movements.
More recently, Lazio had to pay a 50,000 euros fine in 2018 because some supporters had strewn the Stadio Olimpico with stickers where we could see Anne Franck, victim of the Holocaust, wearing the jersey of rival AS Roma .
The arrival of the Spanish goalkeeper Pepe Reina, an assumed supporter of the far-right Vox party, in the summer of 2020 was once again controversial.
Happy with the arrival of such a character, the tifosi had welcomed him with a banner “Roman greetings, comrade Reina!
".
"Being judged for the way I play football, and not for my name"
Romano Floriani Mussolini
On the field side, Romano Mussolini still lacks rhythm according to his youth team coach Mauro Bianchessi: “He won his stripes with the under-17s, then the under-18s.
He's a humble boy who never complained, not even when he hasn't played for two years.
It looks promising.
But in my opinion he is not yet really ready and he still has a good room for improvement to then become a real player ”.
The Italian coach also ensures that the name of his new player does not make him hot or cold, all that interests him is football: “His last name?
I never spoke to his parents, and the only thing that matters is whether a player deserves to play.
Nothing else ".
Romano Mussolini, interviewed by Radiosei radio, said he wanted "only to be judged for the way I play football, and not for my name".
A name that remains heavy to bear, especially when playing Lazio Rome.
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