Blast from the Past no.56: Massimo Maccarone

There wasn’t a thing about Middlesbrough’s 2002 signing of Massimo Maccarone that wasn’t ridiculously exciting. He was young, he was expensive, he was prolific, he was one of the hottest prospects in European football and he had name so gloriously Italian that he sounded literally good enough to eat.

His home debut was a riot. The 22-year-old scored twice in a scintillating individual display against Fulham and Teesside rejoiced in a transfer coup of Juninho-esque proportions.

Five years later, Maccarone left the Riverside Stadium having played a starring role in some of the club’s greatest ever victories.

So is he a Boro legend? Well… it’s complicated.

“Massimo was a massive disappointment considering all the buzz around him,” said one supporter on the Come On Boro forum. Others describe him as an “overpriced mistake” and a “headless chicken” with “the heart of a pea”. Nice.

A quick flick through the Italian’s Premier League statistics doesn’t do much to contradict those opinions. After notching nine goals in his first campaign in England, his subsequent season tallies are six, zero, two and one.

“He looked a world beater on his debut, but he built up in the gym and lost his pace,” is one fan’s theory for his decline. “Great when he first arrived but he didn’t like being kicked,” was another.

But here’s the twist: Massimo Maccarone made a generation of Boro fans happier than any other man in history.

After an undistinguished loan spell at Parma in 2004/05, the Italian found himself back on the fringes at the Riverside the following season.

He watched from the bench as the club’s Uefa Cup campaign unravelled in a quarter-final against Basel. Already 2-0 down from the first leg, the Swiss side struck an early away goal leaving Boro needing four.

Boro boss Steve McClaren responded by concocting a wild four-man attack comprised of Mark Viduka, Yakubu, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Maccarone, who completed the greatest comeback in Boro history with a 90th-minute winner in a 4-1 victory.

Three weeks later, remarkably, the same thing happened.

Trailing 1-0 to Steaua Bucharest from the first leg, the Romanians scored two early goals at the Riverside to leave Boro needing four. Maccarone came off the bench and this time scored twice, including an 89th minute winner that sent McClaren’s men into the final and completed the greatest comeback in Boro history. Again.

Or as this memorable, slightly biased, local commentary from the time put it, “Massimo Maccarone has stuck a stake through the heart of Dracula’s boys!”. Exceptional (turn up your sound).

And that’s why nothing else Maccarone did will ever really matter that much.

“He was an expensive flop but he was involved in one of our greatest moments as a club and he gave me my greatest moment as a fan,” pointed out one Boro fan.

“Huge part of two of our greatest nights – nights I will remember for the rest of my life,” gushed another.

“Cost the club a small fortune but it was repaid with those nights and the income from an amazing cup run,” said a fellow Teessider.

Maccarone’s magic moment was all too brief though. He remained on Boro’s books for another year after his Steaua heroics, but he would only score one more goal.

In the Uefa Cup final against Sevilla, he came on as a second-half substitute but McClaren’s luck had run out (more than he thought – it was his last game before he took over as England coach) and his plucky outsiders were soundly beaten 4-0.

Maccarone was released on a free transfer to Siena in the summer of 2007 – a legend of sorts, but also a disappointment.

“I couldn’t understand why we got rid of him. I genuinely feel like we ruined his career by constantly dropping him and then his confidence just went. He will always be a legend for those goals against Basle and Steaua. I loved the fella,” was one impassioned fan’s summary.

But that’s not quite fair, because Maccarone’s career was far from ruined. Gradually rediscovering his mojo back in Italy, he became a regular scorer for Siena and played for Palermo and Sampdoria before returning to Empoli, the club who sold him to Boro for £8m 10 years earlier. Now aged 37, his career continues to blossom. Maccarone scored 13 goals in Serie A last season.

In total he has two caps for Italy, both won at the age of 22 prior to his move to England. He may not have fully delivered on that glittering early promise, but he has displayed impressive longevity. Less the quick-fix pasta snack his name suggested; more like a rich Italian sauce that becomes more flavoursome the longer it bubbles away.

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