The wandering Italian who fell in love with Espanyol and led Girona to glory
The two Catalan teams where Samuele Longo played face each other this Friday at the RCDE Stadium
BarcelonaOn August 28, 2012, an Italian footballer destined for great things arrived in Barcelona. On loan from Inter Milan, Samuele Longo (Valdobbiadene, 1992) was a marquee signing for Espanyol, and he quickly justified the gamble. It took him just 21 minutes, five days after signing, to score his first goal for the club. He repeated the feat the following match, receiving his second yellow card for celebrating by hugging the crowd at Cornellà-El Prat.
"How time flies. It's been 14 years already, but I remember it practically like it was yesterday: arriving at the airport, the media attention surrounding my presentation, those two goals, the first doping test... and the red card against Athletic; I didn't understand why I was sent off." But, to ARA football.
The most veteran workers at the Dani Jarque Sports City also vividly remember the boyish face and perpetual smile of that striker who was only 20 years old. Some veterans, like Joan Capdevila – "We lived on the same floor and he was almost like a father to me," he says – and Cristhian Stuani, recall: "Back then, I spoke Spanish, and since he was from Italy, he helped me communicate. After three months, I was already figuring things out on my own."
"It's the team I'm most fond of. Barcelona is a great city and Espanyol is an incredible club, the one that gave me my professional debut," says Longo wistfully – he scored three goals in 20 appearances for the club – who in the summer of 2013 He returned to Milan to string together ten consecutive loan spells. Labeled as Inter's pearl – "I didn't consider myself one and I didn't feel any added pressure because of it," he says – he wandered through the first and second divisions of Italy and Spain until 2020, when he was no longer affiliated with the club. NerazzurraHe signed for Vicenza, the only club where he has stayed for more than a year.
The promotion with Girona
Earlier, with his 14 goals, he helped Girona achieve promotion to La Liga for the first time in their history, in 2017. "It was also special because I wasn't so young anymore and I was more aware of everything. Plus, we got promoted and I was the top scorer," explains Longo, who maintains a relationship with former teammates like Ada. "He still remembers Montilivi." the bicycle kick goal which he scored against Cádiz, when the club was languishing in the Second Division.
"Reaching the Champions League, I don't know... but I was sure the club would establish itself in the First Division. Even back then, things were being done very well," adds the Italian, who admits with a laugh that this Friday, in the Espanyol-Girona derby (9 pm, Movistar LaLiga and DAZN), he also left reluctantly. It's the downside of having a long contract with such a powerful club: every summer he had to pack his bags and start from scratch, often without even being able to do preseason with the new team. "Perhaps I would change something about my career, but I don't regret anything," says Longo, who does regret not having been able to reach the Premier League, his "dream."
The jerseys of the 19 clubs he's played for are scattered among the closets at his house, his grandparents' houses, and his parents' houses. One of the most recent is from AC Milan because a year ago he played for their reserve team—in Italy, there can be four veterans per team—where he scored goals and contributed his experience to the development of young talent. "Mental health wasn't talked about for a while; it was shameful to say you went to a psychologist or a therapist." mental coach“I started going recently and it helps me a lot. I wish I had done it since I was 20,” admits Longo, who, having just turned 34 and with more than 400 matches under his belt, still has plenty of playing time left. That's why he signed up for the sessions organized by the Spanish Footballers' Association (AFE) that are being held by the teams. He finished last season at Antequera, the club in the city where he lives with his family. “It's great for getting back into rhythm and feeling. Training alone is different. Personally, I'd like to find a Primera RFEF club in Spain, because we'd like to settle here,” says Longo, the wanderer, now tired of moving up and down the pitch, who fell in love with Espanyol and reached the pinnacle of success at Girona.