The Duce's great-grandson and the memories of 2010

It is the beginning of December, but it is as busy as summer. FC South Tyrol has moved into its quarters in Torre del Greco between Vesuvius and the Gulf of Naples. On Sunday, the residents celebrate the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception with an impressive procession in which over 800 believers carry a huge statue of the Madonna through the town center on a beautifully decorated and adorned wagon. When Vesuvius erupted on December 8, 1861, the residents of Torre del Greco entrusted themselves to the Virgin Mary. Since then, the procession has taken place every year and is attended by several thousand people.

Around 20 kilometers to the south lies Castellammare, where FC Südtirol will meet Juve Stabia this evening for the second time in its history. It was on May 16, 2010, when the White-Reds lost 2-1 at the Menti Stadium in Castellammare at the start of the 2nd Division Supercup. A week earlier, FCS had perfected its historic promotion to the 1rd division with a 0-3 win over Valenzana thanks to match winner Mattia Marchi.

This is where the FCS will fight for points on Friday. © Social Media/FCS

The promotion celebrations lasted several days, so that FC Südtirol did not take the match against Juve Stabia that year too seriously. Coach Alfredo Sebastiani fielded a number of players who had played little or not at all during the season. The goal was guarded by Simon Mair, now goalkeeper in the regional league for Gitschberg Jochtal, who suffered a bitter setback just two weeks ago with a cruciate ligament tear in his knee. Jonas Clementi was substituted on after the break.

Fischnaller scored the goal to make it 1:2, not Manuel, who was playing in the Juventus youth team on loan at the time, but his older brother Hannes. It was the first professional goal for the current club manager of FC Südtirol. He scored his second and last goal in the debut season in the 1st division in the 2:0 home victory over Spezia, the very first FCS victory in the third highest league, in September of the same year.

Memories of Germany In the Supercup of the 2nd Division, in which the three fourth division champions took part, FC Südtirol later lost its second match at home against the eventual tournament winners Lucchese 0:3. This was not surprising, because just one day later the White-Reds played in Rungg against the German national team, which was holding its World Cup training camp there. The entire focus was therefore on this match, which was only a friendly, but certainly not an ordinary one.

FCS sold its skin dearly against Neuer, Özil, Podolski and co. They played two 2-minute games, and the score was 30-0 at halftime. It was only in the second half that the DFB stars, who had to make do without the Bayern pros who had just lost the Champions League final in Madrid against Inter, scored a fitting 0-4 victory. The game will be remembered - unfortunately for the German team - for the injury to Christian Träsch, who missed the World Cup in South Africa. In 0, Träsch ended his professional career without ever having played in a major tournament with the DFB team.

A defender with a curious name Another right-back's career gradually took off that year. Romano Benito Floriani Mussolini is the most prominent name in the squad of today's FCS opponents Juve Stabia - less because of his previous successes, especially since at 21 he is only at the beginning of his career, but more because of his great-grandfather, the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.

Floriani Mussolini is the son of the most famous Duce granddaughter, the politician Alessandra Mussolini, who has never made a secret of her political views. The football talent Floriani Mussolini came through the youth teams of Lazio Rome and moved on loan to Juve Stabia in the summer, where he has started all 15 league games so far, after being on loan to Pescara last season.

The fact that he now has "F. Mussolini" on his shirt at Juve Stabia has recently caused a stir. Previously at Lazio, however, he had used his father's surname Floriani and abbreviated Mussolini with an "M." "I would like to be judged by my performance on the pitch, not by my name," he explained recently in an interview. A wish that will probably never come true given this family history.

Serie B Italy	SP	TV	P
1. Sassuolo	37	78:37	82
2. Step on	37	62:35	73
3. Specia	37	56:32	63
4. Cremonese	37	61:42	61
5. Juventus Stabia	37	42:41	54
6. Catanzaro	37	51:45	52
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The Duce's great-grandson and the memories of 2010

Sportnews editor Alex Raffeiner reports on FC Südtirol’s next opponent, Juve Stabia, the atmosphere in Torre del Greco and a particularly explosive player in the squad.

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