Antonio Cassano

Antonio Cassano is an Italy international footballer currently on the books of the Italian and European giants Inter Milan. Cassano is a striker and is said to be one of the better but temperamental players in Europe.

Cassano commenced his football career at his hometown club of AS Bari after they picked him up playing on the streets of the town. Cassano was born and bred in the old section of Bari, Bari Vecchia. His father left when he was an infant and Casano grew up poor.

Cassano made his debut for Bari in 1999 against local rivals Lecce. After two years of consistent good performance, he was signed by the Italian giants and then champions Roma in the summer of 2001 for a jaw-dropping 28 million euros. He made a slow start with Roma but in the subsequent seasons, developed to become one of the integral components of the Roman side.

The main problem in Cassano’s development at Roma was his temperament. He was involved with controversial spits-pats with Fabio Capello, Rudi Voller and Luigi Del Neri. He was ultimately airlifted off by Real Madrid in January 2006 but failed to make any lasting impact for the Merengues.

He was again at war with Fabio Capello at Real Madrid in the 2006-2007 season and was left out of the team for much of the season. At the start of the 2007-2008 season, he was loaned out to Sampdoria for a year. In 2008 Samp signed him on a permanent contract and he played for them until the early weeks of the 2010-11 campaign when he fell out with the club’s president.

In January 2011 AC Milan signed Cassano, who proved to be an important factor in the Rossoneri’s Serie A triumph. However, at the start of the 2012-13 season with Milan struggling and forced to sell off key players, he joined Inter Milan with fellow Italian striker Giampaolo Pazzini moving in the opposite direction.

Cassano made his international debut for Italy in 2003 and has played over 30 matches for his nation.