Remember Amauri? Silent for most of the first half of the season, life has sprung back into his 33-year-old body as the second half of the season has rolled around. Highlighted by a two-goal effort in Parma’s 3-0 win against Livorno, all three of his goals have come after the winter break.
Amauri, of course, for those unfamiliar is the Brazilian-born Italian international who — though playing for Parma in the early 2000s — really became a household name while playing for Palermo from 2006-2008. Scoring 23 goals for the Rosanero was enough to secure a big pay-day for Amauri, who moved to Juventus in a €22.8 million deal.
Several disappointing seasons with Juve and a brief stop in Fiorentina-later, he is again back with the Crociati. He is the perfect underdog, the has-been, the man looking for redemption.
In many ways, his story is the perfect metaphor for Parma’s second half of the season so far. Limping into the break without a win on their record since Nov. 23, 2013, things looked bleak for the Crociati. Fans were reminiscent of last season, where Parma collapsed after the break — falling to ten in the tables.
But fate has different ideas in mind for Parma. Since the break, have won all three Serie A games they’ve been in — losing only to Lazio 2-1 in the Copa Italia. And, in Parma’s defense, the loss to Lazio came in the 90th minute from a last-minute goal by Lazio’s Brayan Perea.
What is to blame for Parma’s massively improved form the so far? Well, in addition to several key players stepping up, goals have come quite easily after a first-half of the season that saw the Crociati struggle for each and every goal they made. Such has not been the case as we round the corner into the New Year.
Also of utmost importance is how the Crociati have fared in the transfer window. While it looks like the only major negotiation they’ve had has been to acquire AC Milan defender Jherson Vergara on loan, this is simply not the case. Rather, Parma’s greatest achievement in this window has been their ability to hang onto key players.
Critical to Parma’s fortunes from the onset, the Crociati have thus far held onto breakout midfielder Marco Parolo — the object of desire for many an Italian club — and even managed to get striker Antonio Cassano to restate his commitment to the team following comments suggesting he’d prefer a move to Sampdoria. On top of it all, he’s even tapped in another goal to improve his tally to seven on the season.
No doubt, Parma will keep their fingers crossed as January comes to a close. Only now do the Crociati’s summer moves and transactions seem to be bonding and coalescing into one, cohesive unit. It all the pieces can stick together and continuing building upon their chemistry from half a year spent together already, the sky is the limit.
Right now, Parma sits eighth in the tables — a position they’ve occupied for the past few weeks. They are equal in points to Torino, who are one spot above them. They are only three points back from the likes of Hellas Verona and Inter. If they can keep up this win-streak for much longer — especially going into critical games against Udinese and Roma in back-to-back weeks — Parma could become quite the team to watch moving forward.
