Without looking at the doormanwithout looking at the door, without thinking where you are: a hit of those where the only thing that matters is hitting the ball putting it all in poison what you have inside. Thus, with a blow to the left under the crossbar ’97 esimofirst overtime, Marula’s teeth saved the Cosenza in the playoff against Salernitana of June 26, 1991, 32 years ago. Because in the 90s when you were in cadetry the provincial bomber was an icon. Gigi Marulla, perhaps, was even more so. He was because he was born in stylea village 400 meters above sea level which is a poem: it gave birth to Tommaso Campanellahas a Byzantine-style Catholic which is a real treasure, and is one of those countries that look like a crechewho do so much south, who do so much Calabria. And at the time of Gigi Marulla, as mentioned, the 9 on the shoulders was almost a tattoo on the soul of the provincial bomber: for him, in addition to the number on his shoulders, there was all of Calabria, represented through the rossoblù shirt of the Cosenza. Calabria, as we know, is a bitter land for many young people and forces them to sow their dreams elsewhere: for Gigi it is mostly a matter of crossing the Strict and go a few kilometers south, Acireale it is his first football goal, there he grows up and makes his debut in the first team, in Series D.
He’s a good striker, unequivocally first tip despite not having the physique that was required of the first striker of the time: 1 meter 75 for almost 70 kilos, stuff that does not move the defenders but Gigi comes from a country and a land where dogmas, from his fellow villager to Campanella to Pythagoras a little further on, they are questioned. So Gigi more than do a door with provincial stopperacci on dusty fields he gets around us or deceives them on time: very young he scores 9 goals in Serie D, which earned him the call of theAvellino. In green and white, however, he never sees the field: he is too young and so he passes for the first time to Cosenza, in Serie C1. Here he found his first goals, 4 in the first season, 6 in the second, then, at the age of 21, the consecration with a season of 18 goals which also earned him the title of top scorer. A 21-year-old with 20 goals per season in C clearly becomes a valuable piece of the transfer market: worth 2 billion, incredible figure for the time for a lad who plays in C, and pass from one rossoblù to another, that of Genoa. The debut is one to remember: against the Milan Of Liedholm at Marassi in the Italian Cup he scored with a header in the 90th minute, giving his team a draw. He plays well and scores in yellow-blueenough to start dreaming of Serie A: it would seem close to Inter di Trapattonibut then the hypothesis vanishes and returns toAvellinothan with the president Hisses in 1988 he aimed to return immediately to the top flight. However, Marulla’s 10 goals are not enough for the Irpinia team, who finish fifth, and so Gigi decides that if it is not possible to follow the ambitions it is right to follow the heart, thus returning to his Calabriain Cosenza.
In those years, Gigi’s only mission was to represent Cosenza and Calabria: even when, in 1990/91, i Calabrians they seem unable to maintain the category. He does everything, with 17 goals in the league plus one, in the play-off against Salernitana to the Adriatic of breaking latest news to avoid relegation. “The feeling – he will say later – was that of saving an entire Region: if Cosenza were relegated, all of Cosenza would be relegated. Calabria and I couldn’t afford it.” He will always be able to save Cosenza Marulla, acting as a mother hen for young people strikers which then would have been successful: first Michele PaduanThen Marco NegriThen Cristiano Lucarelli. He also seems to succeed in 1997 in a disastrous year, when in the 89th on the penultimate day Marulla at 34 he still scores, against Padova, which however incredibly equalized a minute later, frustrating the dream. Skip to Castrovillari, in C2, playing two seasons, scoring again. Then the coaching career, and the premature demise at the age of 52 for a heart attack: the stadium of was dedicated to him Cosenza and even a musical, because for some, one may not be enough World or one Champions to enter history, others tattoo a number, a shirt and a region on themselves, entering history and the hearts of the people. As Gigi Marulla.