Enfant terrible Cassano accepts his failings

Antonio Cassano has always had a special talent.

That much was obvious from the moment he announced himself on the Serie A scene as a fresh-faced teenager in Wayne Rooney-esque fashion with a wonderful solo goal for Bari against Inter Milan, leaving Laurent Blanc and Christian Panucci for dead to secure a 2-1 win for his home town side.

A €28-million move to Roma followed before his 19th birthday and it seemed a matter of when, rather than if, he would be mentioned alongside the greatest names in European football.

But things have not quite worked out that way for the Italian as it soon became apparent that his singular talent was matched by a unique habit for self-destruction and an uncanny knack for falling out with managers.

Seven years on from his mega-money time Cassano has felt the urge shared with so many sportsmen nowadays to make some sense of his controversial career in print.

In a recent interview with The Times columnist Gabriele Marcotti, Cassano shared some candid insights that give a flavour of what to expect from his autobiography, the title of which translates as ‘I’ll tell you everything (and if it’s hot I’ll play in the shade)’.

The book will offer his take on his bust-ups with the likes of Fabio Capello and his love of binge eating, as well as his playboy nature and how he claims to have bedded over 600 women (not bad for someone who hardly shares the model looks of his former Real Madrid colleague David Beckham).

Perhaps the most controversial comments, though, are his claims that he knows he could have made it at Real Madrid if he had knuckled down and shown total commitment, but he is happy with his decision to move to Sampadoria, a mid-table Serie A team, where he plays at around 50 per cent.

He says: "The problem is that we live in a culture obsessed with success. We fool ourselves into thinking we have to do our best and make sacrifices to succeed. But why? Trophies come and go. Once you’ve retired, it will all be gone, they’ll just be numbers in an almanac.

"What is truly important is being happy now. I know I haven’t given 100 per cent physically or mentally to this game. At best, I gave 50 per cent. Maybe a tiny bit more in the good years. But so what? Thanks to my talent, I live like a king, I play football and I have a great time."

It has simply become accepted that footballers all want to get to the top of the game and win trophies with a big club, there is even a sense that they owe it to all of us less-talented individuals to push themselves as far as they can go because we would give anything to swap places with them.

But Cassano turns all this on his head. He claims he is a human with a right to be happy in himself.

He didn’t ask to be endowed with this talent and, having thought his way out of Bari’s tough back streets as a youngster, he deserves to be able to cruise along earning a living most of would only dream of.

It is a refreshing contrast to the normal drivel we are served up with from players who kiss the badge and pledge to give ‘110 per cent’.

There are many things to despise about Cassano and his attitude but you can’t fault him for honesty and if an English translation to the book is available I cannot wait to read it as I have no doubt it will prove a lot more entertaining than the usual drivel served up by modern stars and their ghost writers.

It seems we always get frustrated with players who fail to live up to their potential and imagine how disappointed they must be with themselves.

But in Cassano’s case it seems the person least concerned with his career trajectory is the former prodigy himself.