Mattia Destro is finally developing into the clinical striker which he has always been hailed as having the potential to become. His performances in front of goal for AS Roma this season have brought the Ascoli Piceno native much acclaim from around the Serie A. The question is do they warrant a spot on Cesare Prandelli’s 23-man squad to Brazil in just less than four months’ time?
Mattia Destro: Pushing for a Spot in Brazil
The list of players fighting for the same role as Mattia Destro on the Azzurri is quite illustrious and includes the likes of Mario Balotelli, Giuseppe Rossi, Pablo Osvaldo, Sebastian Giovinco, Alberto Gilardino, Ciro Immobile and even Domenico Berardi. That’s not including secondary strikers and wingers such as Lorenzo Insigne, Alessio Cerci, Stephen El Shaarawy, Antonio Candreva, Alessandro Florenzi and Emanuele Giaccherini; the latter three also having the capability to be deployed in midfield. There’s even been talk of bringing back Francesco Totti into the national fold, but that will likely remain fantasy football.
So where does Destro fit into this list?
For both Euro 2012 and the 2013 Confederations Cup, Prandelli brought in five attacking players, plus three midfielders who possessed the versatility to move up front as wingers if need be. Prandelli has publicly stated that he would prefer it if he didn’t have to rush Berardi into the squad. Meanwhile Rossi will be returning from injury, and with Giovinco and Osvaldo having miserable seasons, it will be interesting to see who Prandelli goes with up front aside from locks “Super Mario” Balotelli and the Torino pair of Cerci and Immobile – Mattia stands a fighting chance as a candidate to make the team.
He was predominantly utilized as the default Coppa Italia starter last season under Zeman and Andreazzoli. It could be said that his play in the cup led to the departure of Pablo Dani Osvaldo – Andreazzoli preferred to start the youngster in the final against Lazio which reignited the fire between the caretaker and Osvaldo.
This season Destro has contributed six goals in ten matches for Roma, something it took him twice as long to do last time round in 2012-2013. It should be noted that his season commenced late due to a knee injury sustained in the summer, meaning that his 2013-2014 debut was in December against Fiorentina as a substitute, helping them secure three points for the Giallorossi with the match winner in the process.
He is on pace to double his goal tally this year with twelve goals which is the mark he hit in 2011-2012 with Siena, albeit in ten more matches played for the Tuscan outfit if he maintains this torrid trajectory. There’s been a trend if you notice – Destro has been scoring more goals and more consistently than he has ever before. Like his Roma side in general, every step of his on the pitch is accompanied by a certain swagger, something unseen in the capital since the days of Claudio Ranieri – this all in thanks to Rudi Garcia who has restored pride to Rome.
If Destro is to board a plane to Brazil, he’ll have his previous experiences within the Italian national youth setup to draw upon – he’s played at every youth level save for U-20. He was a member of last year’s successful Italian U-21 squad, who lost in the final of the UEFA European U-21 Championships in Israel to Spain. In total he amassed five goals in fifteen matches for the U-21’s, but this pales in comparison to his record at the U-19 level, a remarkable 16 in 14 caps for the Azzurrini.
His knack of scoring timely goals and his clinical abilities in front of goal of late have been fantastic – he is in some of the best form of his career and his addition to the World Cup squad would have some mouth-watering potential (i.e. linking up with playmaking specialist Andrea Pirlo). At the end of the day, only Prandelli can decide as to whether to include the AS Roma hit man – he wasn’t picked for Euro 2012 after all, being passed over for then Roma striker Fabio Borini at the last minute. I would be hard-pressed to find a reason how Prandelli couldn’t pass him up this time.
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