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Massimo Maccarone
Massimo Maccarone (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmassimo makkaˈroːne]; born 6 September 1979) is an Italian football coach and former player, who played as a striker. He was nicknamed Big Mac during his playing days.
Maccarone grew up playing with friends in Oleggio, in the Province of Novara. He was spotted in the final of the "Fortina e Zanolli" youth tournament at the age of eight (Pulcini category).
At nine he joined Soccer Boys Turbigo and, at thirteen, was recruited by AC Milan, spending five seasons in the club's academy. He also appeared at the Torneo di Viareggio in 1998. After featuring in pre-season friendlies under Fabio Capello, he spent the summer of 1998 on loan at Modena, where he failed to make an appearance, before moving to Prato in Serie C2 in September 1998. He scored on his debut on 4 October 1998 in a 2–0 win over Cremapergo and finished the season with 21 league appearances and 4 goals; in the play-offs he converted two penalties against Mantova in the semi-finals, before Prato lost the final.
He began the following season with Varese but returned to Prato on 27 September 1999. He scored 20 goals in 28 league matches to finish as Serie C2's top scorer. Prato reached the promotion play-off final but lost 3–2 to Alessandria on 11 June 2000; Maccarone scored Prato's first goal in the match.
In 2000, Maccarone returned to Milan and transferred to Empoli, helping the club get promoted to Serie A during the 2001–02 season. In the same period, he was one of the most outstanding players of the Italy U21 team which reached the semi-finals in the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. As a result, he was noticed by several teams.
Maccarone was signed by English Premier League team Middlesbrough on 9 July 2002 for £8.15 million (€12.7 million). He made his debut against Southampton on 17 August 2002. On his second appearance and his home debut the following week he scored twice in a 2–2 draw with Fulham. Another highlight in his first season was scoring twice as Middlesbrough defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5–1.
Maccarone was an unused substitute when Middlesbrough won the 2004 Football League Cup Final. Despite showing fine early form in his first few matches for Middlesbrough, the remainder of his spell at the club was a struggle to justify his price tag and during the first half of the 2004–05 season he was loaned out to Serie A club Parma, and in January 2005 to Siena.
Maccarone returned to Middlesbrough for the 2005–06 season, and despite not being a regular first-team player, endeared himself to the Middlesbrough fans, especially through his work-rate and attitude. The player's spell at Middlesbrough is remembered for two last-minute winners in key UEFA Cup ties in 2006. He scored against Basel in the second leg of the quarter-finals, a tie in which Middlesbrough overturned a three-goal deficit to win 4–3 on aggregate. In the semi-final of the same competition he came on as a substitute and scored twice in the aggregate 4–3 win over Steaua Bucharest, scoring one of Middlesbrough F.C's most iconic goals of all time, once again in the 90th minute, taking Boro to the final in Eindhoven, in which he came on as a substitute. Following his exploits in the semi-final, fellow Middlesbrough striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink declared "Massimo, I love him until I die... it's unbelievable".
Massimo Maccarone
Massimo Maccarone (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmassimo makkaˈroːne]; born 6 September 1979) is an Italian football coach and former player, who played as a striker. He was nicknamed Big Mac during his playing days.
Maccarone grew up playing with friends in Oleggio, in the Province of Novara. He was spotted in the final of the "Fortina e Zanolli" youth tournament at the age of eight (Pulcini category).
At nine he joined Soccer Boys Turbigo and, at thirteen, was recruited by AC Milan, spending five seasons in the club's academy. He also appeared at the Torneo di Viareggio in 1998. After featuring in pre-season friendlies under Fabio Capello, he spent the summer of 1998 on loan at Modena, where he failed to make an appearance, before moving to Prato in Serie C2 in September 1998. He scored on his debut on 4 October 1998 in a 2–0 win over Cremapergo and finished the season with 21 league appearances and 4 goals; in the play-offs he converted two penalties against Mantova in the semi-finals, before Prato lost the final.
He began the following season with Varese but returned to Prato on 27 September 1999. He scored 20 goals in 28 league matches to finish as Serie C2's top scorer. Prato reached the promotion play-off final but lost 3–2 to Alessandria on 11 June 2000; Maccarone scored Prato's first goal in the match.
In 2000, Maccarone returned to Milan and transferred to Empoli, helping the club get promoted to Serie A during the 2001–02 season. In the same period, he was one of the most outstanding players of the Italy U21 team which reached the semi-finals in the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. As a result, he was noticed by several teams.
Maccarone was signed by English Premier League team Middlesbrough on 9 July 2002 for £8.15 million (€12.7 million). He made his debut against Southampton on 17 August 2002. On his second appearance and his home debut the following week he scored twice in a 2–2 draw with Fulham. Another highlight in his first season was scoring twice as Middlesbrough defeated Tottenham Hotspur 5–1.
Maccarone was an unused substitute when Middlesbrough won the 2004 Football League Cup Final. Despite showing fine early form in his first few matches for Middlesbrough, the remainder of his spell at the club was a struggle to justify his price tag and during the first half of the 2004–05 season he was loaned out to Serie A club Parma, and in January 2005 to Siena.
Maccarone returned to Middlesbrough for the 2005–06 season, and despite not being a regular first-team player, endeared himself to the Middlesbrough fans, especially through his work-rate and attitude. The player's spell at Middlesbrough is remembered for two last-minute winners in key UEFA Cup ties in 2006. He scored against Basel in the second leg of the quarter-finals, a tie in which Middlesbrough overturned a three-goal deficit to win 4–3 on aggregate. In the semi-final of the same competition he came on as a substitute and scored twice in the aggregate 4–3 win over Steaua Bucharest, scoring one of Middlesbrough F.C's most iconic goals of all time, once again in the 90th minute, taking Boro to the final in Eindhoven, in which he came on as a substitute. Following his exploits in the semi-final, fellow Middlesbrough striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink declared "Massimo, I love him until I die... it's unbelievable".
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