The Sardinian star of five-a-side football Michele Podda continues to shine , having reached another important milestone in his career with his Meta Catania . The five-a-side footballer, who is also part of the national futsal team, last Sunday lifted the Italian Super Cup together with his teammates from the Catania team.
During the competition, the Etna team challenged Lecco in the semi-final, beating them 7-1 and earning the pass to the final, which was a sort of déjà vu: the opponent was once again Napoli , just like in the Scudetto final last June. This time too, it was Podda and his teammates who lifted the cup, thanks to a great 8-2 victory.
But January 5 was a whirlwind of emotions for the young man from Villaspeciosa who, in addition to his trophy, also indirectly celebrated a second one: «It was a very emotional day in general», he says. «Before my match I had already heard about my friends' victory in the Coppa Italia C1 with the team from my hometown to which I am infinitely attached. My mother, who was in the stands to watch my match, told me. And then winning a Super Cup , in front of our fans in Catania which I now feel like my home, with my mother in the stands and on the same day as my greatest friends' victory, I don't know if there was a better way to start 2025».
Meta Catania is proving a lot in the panorama of Italian five-a-side football. In June, the victory of a very important championship for the city, then the path in Futsal Champions League ended at the Elite Round and now the Super Cup brought home. What is the secret behind the many close successes? "There is no secret underneath, just a lot of work and a lot of sacrifices combined with our team mentality. Plus the help of the public: playing at PalaCatania makes the difference", reports Podda.
The team coached by the Spaniard Juanra has no intention of stopping. The desire to continue to shine among the big names of Italian futsal is great, as Podda also recalled: «We have already achieved one goal, which was to win the Super Cup . Now we will try to write another page of history with the Italian Cup , but we are aware that it will be difficult because they are one-off matches. And then we aim to defend the title of Italian Champions , we will always enter the field to win». The bar of the objectives is therefore very high and the road to achieve them will undoubtedly be tiring, but with the right sacrifice nothing is impossible.
For Podda this is the third season with the Sicilian team and, as he has reiterated several times, despite a first year spent with some difficulties, he now feels at home. Catania is becoming an important piece for his career in futsal and not only: «Catania has given me and is still giving me so much, especially after the first year in which my performance was not up to the level of this club. They have always been close to me and allowed me to work peacefully. I think I repaid them, at least in a small part, last season. But what this club and this city are giving me remains even more. These years have allowed me to mature a lot both as a person and on a professional level».
Despite his young age, just 24, Podda's footballing curriculum and list of honours are comparable to those of much more experienced players . Astonishing results for a boy who still has a lot to conquer and endless blank sheets of paper on which to write and tell new emotions. But between the Scudetto , Champions League and Super Cup , which was the biggest thrill? «Honestly I think the Scudetto , it was my first title among the "big boys" and it was quite unexpected. But all these things in their own way were exciting: for the Super Cup I have already explained why and for the Champions League there is no need to do so, it was a dream come true sooner than expected».
As much as it is nice to celebrate, now it is time to focus on the championship again, where the Etna team is in second place in the standings with 23 total points. Meta , at the beginning of 2025, already took to the field yesterday for the recovery of the eighth day of Serie A against Fortitudo Pomezia . The boy from Spezia and his teammates suffered a 3-2 defeat, but are ready to get back up after this small misstep. Tomorrow, January 10, they return to the parquet for a new away match: the rival will be Roma .
