who is the Udinese player who is in Nazionale- Corriere.it at 16

A life of primates does not always mean a life in the foreground. For Simone he hopes so: the classic boyish dream, of those who know that the potential is there and that it will be exploited. He would have imagined training only at 16 with the National from Mancini? No. But now that the call has come, for Pafundi the dream becomes yet another reality, to which you have to get used to quickly. We always try to avoid labels: the concept of predestined as inflated as it is abused. But retracing the career of this Udinese attacking midfielder suggests that he is indeed predestined. a 2006, he turned 16 last March, but on May 22, 2022 he was already on the pitch with the first team, playing 25 ‘against Salernitana. The miracle? Having almost obscured the match that, at the same time, assigned the Scudetto to Milan playing against Sassuolo. While Pegs won, many asked: But who Pafundi ?. And he, the son of Neapolitan parents who emigrated to the north many years ago, was smiling in the meantime. But somehow he already felt ready.

The discovery of Udinese

Simone Campano in the blood, but Friulian by adoption: born in Monfalcone, in the province of Gorizia, and has always had a passion for football shared with his brother Andrea, born in 2004, who plays as a forward. Until last year, the two were team mates in the Udinese Primavera, and for Simone the presence of his brother was fundamental. Also because he has forged ahead: he has always been the youngest of the team, called to play with teammates one or two years older than him. He had been noticed by the bianconeri during a tournament in 2014: he was only 8 years old, he played with his teammates of 10 for theUnion Fincantieri Monfalcone. Udinese wasted no time: Come to us, Andrea and Simone. You couldn’t say no.

That comparison with Di Natale

And so began the rise up to the call, at just 15 years old, in the first team coached by Cioffi. To the coach, Pafundi has always attributed the merit of having believed in him despite his immature age: first by letting him train with Deulofeu and the others; then making him play. Last season, in fact, he was divided between the Primavera and the first team, experiencing the joy of the debut in the last game. There are those who tell him that he has the characteristics to Christmas, a sacred monster in Udine: the old attacking midfielder is no longer there, but between dribbling and watching the game, Pafundi is very close to this role. This year, he has not yet played with Sottil, which still leads him to train with the older ones to make him then return to play with the youth selection coached by Jani Sturm (9 games, 3 goals and 6 assists so far between league and cup). Mancini’s call puts him back in the spotlight once again. He’ll have to shield himself a bit if he wants to avoid backtracking, but for now, he’s only made a lot of steps forward. And so happy.