Sergei PareikoFoto: Reuters / Scanpix
Jalgpall
18. september 2013, 14:53

From Pareiko to Liivak: the untold story of the Estonians in Italian football (3)

Eestis elav ja jalgpallist kirjutav itaallane Angelo Palmeri vaatab tagasi Eesti palluritele, kes on proovinud Itaalias läbi lüüa. Mis saatus ootab Frank Liivakut? Kuigi Palmeri oskab natuke ka eesti keelt, on need kokkuvõtted praegu veel inglise keeles. Sellest ei maksa heituda ja neid kokkuvõtteid tasub lugeda, sest Palmeri tunneb taustu ja teab, kuidas kodumaal toimuvat selgitada.

It was the 1998-99 season.

Sergei Pareiko was a young Estonian goalkeeper, just 21-year-old, when he joined the legendary club of Casale Calcio in the Summer of 1998. Legendary mostly for its past than its present as the 'starred-blacks' won a 'scudetto' (the Italian national title) back in 1914 and were the first Italian club to beat an English one (in 1913 winning 2-1 against Reading FC).

Back then as nowadays, the club from Casale Monferrato, Piedmont province of Alessandria, floats in the non-professional leagues of Italian football.

Sergei collected 23 caps with Casale who classified 11th in the C.N.D – NorthEastern group, out of 18 clubs. However the biggest achievement for the club was the 'Coppa Italia Dilettanti' (the national cup for non-professional clubs) won on a 3-0 aggregate final against Moncalieri, from the Torino province.

Sergei left the season after back to Estonia at Levadia Maardu.

''I fell in love with this country'' said Sergei in 2010 when interviewed by UEFA.com revealing that he will have supported Italy at the South Africa WC.

He recounted about his experience in Italy to Soccernet.ee web portal back in 2008: ''I got there thanks to a friend of Vladimir Volohonski ( Levadia Maardu back-then vice-president - A.P.). At the end of the 1999 season I got an offer from Chievo Verona ( still in Serie B at that time – A.P.) and also A.C. Monza.

However the biggest problems were I didn't have a living and working permit. Chievo suggested to marry a local woman so I would get all the necessary permits. Also Casale Calcio offered a new contract, but I decided to turn down the offer and come back to Estonia.

Levadia reached the European cups and I wanted to prove myself at this level, I was young and I thought I still had time (in 1999 Levadia would have played the UEFA Cup qualifier against Steaua Bucharest losing 7-1 on aggregate, Sergei was a starter in both games – A.P.).

However the links with Italian football don't stop in 1999: ''In 2007 I have got an offer from Torino FC'' adds to the record of Italian clubs interested in him ''I have an Italian agent. Torino offered less than the agreed salary as the reason was that Tom Tomsk (his club in Russia back in 2008 – A.P.) rose the price of my tag, therefore they had to lower the salary'' later on Torino should have taken contact in January 2008 with Sergei to renew the offer, however nothing happened and his career developed elsewhere (Russia and Poland) and the chance to see an Estonian player debuting in Italian professional football was postponed.

It took in fact 10 years to see Enar Jääger debuting with Ascoli Calcio shirt in Serie B in season 2009-10.

The experience there started looking promising as the right full-back signed a 3-year contract with the Central Italy club.

However Enar encountered some difficulties in making it to the Starting XI. His fall corresponded with the crisis of Ascoli in the Serie B season: after a great start, the white and black striped suffered a negative streak of results that convinced the management to change the coach.

Enar had already played very little until that far and the new coach completely sidelined him entrusting the Italian bulk for his Starting XI.

After barely 5 appearances, 321 minutes played and a yellow card, Enar left the Italian club at the end of January 2010 during the winter transfer window.

Not certainly a memorable experience for the Estonian international: the first Estonian in Italian professional football didn't have the hoped-for impact.

In the meantime, during the same Summer of 2009, it was the turn of two young Estonian prospects: Henri Anier and Joonas Tamm.

The two Flora youngsters were loaned to the Genova club UC Sampdoria for the youth team (Primavera). It's the period of Cassano and Pazzini forward duo in the 'blucerchiati' squad fighting for Serie A high positions and managing to clinch a Champions League play-off spot.

Henri managed to score a goal in a friendly tournament against the Lazio youngsters in August however, let alone a chance to appear in the first squad, it looked like they both didn't make a great impact in the Primavera squad.

Henri managed some appearances with the Primavera side, Tamm didn't have any great chance to prove himself.

Anier's adventure ended in June 2010 when he returns to Flora after having taken part in February in the famous 'Torneo di Viareggio', one of the most important world youth tournament at clubs' level.

Tamm presence at the Northern Italy club was dragged until August same year when he re-joined Anier in Tallinn.

Unfortunately not another great experience for a couple of Estonian footballers in Italy: the hoped-for bigger stage didn't produce any turn in their career and probably left also a bit of regret, as we can read from Anier's words released to monthly 'Jalka'.

Asked why he came back from Italy, he replied: ''Hard to say. It was not really my choice to come back from there. I do know very little about it as everything was decided among the clubs and why it went this way, I don't know. They just told me that I would have returned to Estonia. It was a great experience nonetheless. Living alone, a different life and such a football culture'' explains a rather enthusiast Henri about his Italian life.

We have to wait another couple of years to see another 'Eesti poiss' hitting the headlines for joining an Italian club: Tarmo Kink will reach AS Varese in 2012 in Serie B.

Compared to Jääger, Tarmo will manage to get more caps (13, including two in the national cup), more minutes (598) and more yellow cards (5) plus two appearances with the youth team.

More but still far from expectations: Tarmo is employed as left flanker, often subbed by the coach or sent to bench.

Out of curiosity, his debut in Serie B was against Jääger's Ascoli, Varese won 2-0 that game.

He gets a good review from his teammate, Giampietro Zecchin who scored the second goal in that game: ''He's good, he's strong, he's got a very powerful left-footed shot, and he's got potential. Obviously he needs to improve tactically. In Italy it is a bit different, it takes time to adjust but I see space for improvement in him'' declared he to Varese Web TV.

His debut is positively reviewed also by the local paper 'La Provincia di Varese': ''Kink, what a surprise!'' while emphasizing his shot and incursions from the left side.

The coach himself, Castori, spends good words: ''He is a good resource for us, he is able in 1-vs-1 situations and might also net goals. He needs improvement when we don't have possession, but we've got time to work on that'' underlining once and again the necessity for a tactical growth.

He acknowledged that in a press conference in December 2012: ''The Italian game is much more different compared to my experiences in England and Russia'' admitted the Estonian international ''I still have to get used to it, however everyone is helping me.''

Kink made through till Matchday 20, an away loss to Crotone in Southern Italy two days before Christmas. After that, there won't be much time left to get acquainted to the new football experience: this is Tarmo's last game in Italy as during January 2013 transfer window, he will leave the club to go back to Györi ETO in Hungary.

After Kink, it took less than a year to read headlines about an Estonian footballer joining forces with an Italian club. Frank Liivak, a young U-19 international, was loaned from Almere City (Holland) to SSC Napoli at the end of August.

The news broke on all Estonian medias dealing with football accompanied by a nice picture of Frank depicted with Napoli's logo in the background. He even recounted about a handshake with the likes of Rafa Benitez, Napoli's coach from this season.

Frank was purchased by the Southern Italy club to strengthen the youth team (Primavera).

His debut might take place already tonight in what is a new UEFA competition at youth level: UEFA Youth League, the Champions League for the academy teams.

Napoli Primavera have been drawn exactly to the same opponents as the first squad have: Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal and Olympique de Marseille. First game is today and starts at 16 against Borussia Dortmund.

Not bad as a starter for the 17-year-old Estonian whose career kicked off in Holland.

Good luck...or as we would say in Italia: in bocca al lupo!

UEFA Youth League
16:00 EEST
SSC Napoli – Borussia Dortmund