Fabio Pisacane has just lifted the first Coppa Italia in the history of Cagliari Primavera, handing out a dry 3-0 to Milan in the historic setting of the Arena Civica “Gianni Brera” in Milan. A clear, technical and mental success. But it would be a mistake to think that it all started there, yesterday on an afternoon of red and blue celebration in the city of Milan.
To understand who Fabio Pisacane, a Neapolitan born in 1986, is, we need to start from much further back. Not from a bench, but from a hospital bed.
Naples, late 1990s. He is a young promise of Genoa, he is 14 years old, he comes from a football school called La Celeste and dreams of Batistuta's goals. One morning he wakes up and no longer moves. Diagnosis: Guillain-Barré syndrome. Paralysis, coma, rehabilitation. A fight that perhaps many would give up before even starting. Not him. He gets out, it takes him months, but he returns to the field. It is the first act of a career that will always be uphill, always against the wind, always glued to a moral code rare in professional football.
The most famous episode dates back to April 14, 2011. Serie C1, he plays for Lumezzane. They offer him 50,000 euros to fix a match. Pisacane refuses and reports it. The Ravenna manager ends up arrested. The story projects him into newspapers all over the world. But he doesn't let it go to his head: "I don't feel like a hero," he repeats several times. In the meantime, however, FIFA names him ambassador of fair play, Prandelli invites him to the pre-European national team gathering, and in Terni they give him the golden Thyrus.
Then comes Cagliari. It's 2015, he's almost thirty years old and he's coming from two excellent seasons in Avellino. He finds Massimo Rastelli and a team that welcomes him as one of their own. It's with the red and blue jersey that, in 2016, he finally makes his debut in Serie A. He's thirty years old. The following year he scores against Milan the goal that closes the history of the Sant'Elia stadium. He's one of those players who don't make noise, but remain. On and off the pitch.
At the end of his career he does not leave Sardinia. Not only for love of the Island, but for a life choice. In Cagliari, together with his wife Rosy Pesce, he puts down roots and decides to raise his four children. Fabio Pisacane studies, trains, obtains the UEFA licenses. He works behind the scenes. He observes, he learns. When Liverani arrives on the Cagliari bench in 2022, he joins the staff. Then he moves to the youth sector, he focuses on individual technique applied to the defensive phase. No shortcuts, no preferential lane.
In July 2023 he took over the leadership of the Primavera. Six months later he obtained the UEFA A license. And now, April 2025, the first big result: the Coppa Italia Primavera. A victory built with method, empathy, attention to detail. "I have always tried to learn from everyone," he said after the triumph. "Curiosity" is the key word, not "miracle". No rhetoric, just work.
In the meantime, Antonio Martone has also written a book “La Favol…A di Fabio Pisacane” in which he tells the story of the Neapolitan footballer, not to celebrate him, but to share a trajectory outside the box. Because football, every now and then, can still be a place where merit and ethics take you far. And where a Primavera final can be worth as much as a Champions League. And Fabio Pisacane has shown that you can win in many ways. The most difficult – and most credible – is to remain yourself. Even when no one is watching.