Insigne: He sold clothes, wanted to quit football because of his height. Now he’s playing the Euro finals

When the Italians take to the pitch at Wembley in their blue jerseys on Sunday night, the entire country of 60 million will be relying on Lorenzo Il Magnifico. Lorenzo Insigne is the star of the Euro finalists, but his road to the top has been a somewhat thorny one.

The youth of football’s biggest stars often follows one formula. They experienced poverty and deprivation in their childhood, but their love of football was stronger.

It was the harsh conditions that gave them the hunger and strength to reach the highest level, to break out of poverty. The hunger for success is a factor that children who have enough of everything often lack.

And so it was with Lorenzo Insigne. He was born on 4 June 1991 in Frattamagiore, 15 kilometres from Naples.

His parents were struggling to feed Lorenzo and his three brothers in a very small house that could barely accommodate five people. The situation got even worse when Lorenzo’s father was fired from his job.

Despite all this, the Frattamagiore native never lost his love for football. As a child, he spent days on the streets with the ball, as his mother later recalled. “As a child he had a mouthful of food, but even then he had the ball at his feet.”

To help his family’s situation a little, he took a job as a clerk in a store where he sold clothes. Before long, he was earning enough to buy the jersey of his football idol, the phenomenal Brazilian striker Ronaldo.

As a youngster, he played for Olimpia Sant Arpino, where he shone in football and showed his skills. He was subsequently noticed by Napoli scouts, who overlooked his height and included him in the U15 team.

But it was his height that gave Insigne big problems. Currently, at 30, he is 163 centimetres and his low centre of gravity is more of an advantage, but this was not the case in his youth.

“In Italy, the scouts are very honest. “We like him, but he’s too small.” It was very frustrating, I wanted to quit football because of that. I just wished I could wake up in the morning and grow up overnight,” Insigne recalled of the difficult period.

As a teenager, Lorenzo went through several guest appearances. He tried his hand at clubs like Cavese, Foggia and Pescara. There he finally found himself, netting 18 goals in 34 games and helping Pescara to the Serie B title. And who was in charge of him? Zdenek Zeman, a Czech coach and a devotee of attacking football.

Moreover, at Pescara he met Ciro Immobile and Marco Veratti. And with both teammates, he will fight for the European title for his native country on Sunday.

After a successful season in Pescara, Napoli recalled him to the A-team and he has never worn another jersey since.

As the saying goes, look for the woman behind everything, and many believe that was the case with Insigne as well. He found a girlfriend (now wife) in Naples in Genoveffa Darone, but his engagement at Pescara put him 250 kilometres away from her.

Insigne therefore worked so hard to return to his love in Naples. 18 league goals secured his return and Lorenzo married Genoveffa at the end of 2012.

Despite interest from other European big clubs, Insigne never left Naples. He has made 305 competitive starts for the club from Italy’s third largest city, scoring 85 goals.

He is one of the biggest stars in Roberto Mancini’s current squad at the Euros and dreams of European gold. Will the shop assistant be able to say he is the King of Europe on Sunday?

Source:: Lifebogger, Livesport