Niccolò Zagnolo, born on 2 July 1999 and now 19 years old, rose to fame in this morning's Champions League.
Roma face Porto at home. In the 70th minute of the match, Djeko took the ball inside the penalty area and distributed it to Zaniolo, the Italian youngster stopped the ball with his right foot, and then pumped a shot that pierced Casillas's ten fingers!
It was Zaniolo's personal Champions League debut.
Six minutes later, Dzeko's long-range shot from the neutral post in front of the penalty area and Zaniolo, who had arrived on the horse, pushed his left foot to extend the score to 2-0!
Dzeko played the role of big center, and Zaniolo played the role of finisher.
Porto then pulled a goal back by Lopez, and the 2-1 score made the second leg full of variables.
Zaniolo has gradually gained a foothold in Rome since last December and has been in excellent form recently. In the last six serie a serie a serie a games, he has contributed 3 goals and 2 assists, including goals against Sassuolo, Turin, AC Milan, and twice against Atalanta. Helped the Red Wolves achieve a 4-win, 2-draw record. The shot of Zaniolo swinging to sassuolo goalkeeper and defender and finishing the goal with his hand in front of Turin is stunning.
In the Champions League, Zaniolo also played the whole game for the first time, and while scoring his debut goal, he also completed the second goal. He also became the youngest Italian player in the history of the Champions League to score twice.
Last summer, Zaniolo moved from Inter Milan to Roma for a transfer fee of 4.5 million euros. Zagnolo did not play first team at Inter Milan. It is worth mentioning that before he made his Serie A debut on September 28 last year, he was called up for the national team, becoming the second player in Verratti and the fourth player in history to be called up for the national team without a Serie A appearance.
"It was an incredible night, I can't put into words how I feel right now, I couldn't imagine being on a stage like this."
On this night, an Italian 19-year-old genius stunned the Champions League. I wonder if Inter will regret seeing Zaniolo's performance like this.