The setting was a deepish shade of orange. The Curva Sud, full of jovial Partenopei, had kept on singing all evening. With good reason too. Napoli led their arch-rivals by two goals on the pitch and five league places. Amidst the merriment and excitement, Ezequiel Lavezzi picked up the ball on the inside right channel, facing the Bianconerri net and a feral North Stand of the famous Estadio San Paolo. And drove. A cute poke inside for Mario Hamsik followed, who promptly dinked the ball across the face of goal. And time froze. As a very helpless Frederik Sørensen tried in vain to get a nail, a spike, anything on it, a figure dived into the scene. Head first, eyes on the prize. Past the goalkeeper into the bottom corner. Hattrick completare. E alza le mani, arriva Cavani – the Curva sang. Edinson Cavani had arrived, well and truly. To Napoli fans, he was a folk hero. Around fires and in pubs, on the walk to grounds and in the stands, people have always sung songs about their heroes. But how did it come about? What made this man so special in a league packed with talent? Through the prism of a romantic, onto the story of another. Here’s the ballad of Edinson Roberto Cavani Gómez.
It’s a very intruiging city, Naples. Situated on the South coast, it has always been shunned, and undermined. Housing the wrath of Mt. Vesuvius, Naples is situated far away from the glamour of Milan, the regality of Turin or the charm of a Rome or Florence. A working class city, that loves it’s football and adores it’s heroes. And it had found one, all those years back in Diego Armando Maradona. A hero that stood up for them, fought for them, made them dream. A man that challenged the status quo on their behalf. And since Maradona’s departure, until today, they’re yet to bring the Scudetto home. But that doesn’t bother them as much as the absence of a cult hero, a man to channel a thousand Neapolitan dreams and desires through, does. They like building murals for these men. You might have seen images of Diego’s mural in Naples. Here’s an image not as widely travelled, that encapsulates a lot of how Napoli fans feel about Edinson Cavani. But how did this romance come about?
As the curtains dropped on the ‘09/’10 Serie A season in Italy, verdicts about Napoli’s campaign, were split. At the start of it, however, optimism had surrounded San Paolo as president De Laurentiis had loosened the purse to bring in local boy Fabio Quagliarella from Udinese. A year on, after 11 league goals, the acquisition was deemed as money ill spent. Around the same time, about four hundred mile further south of Naples, at Palermo, uncertainty clouded the future of their star striker. Hair like a very young Brad Pitt from ‘Legends of the Fall’, spring in his step, a glint in his eye and death in his boots. Everyone at the club and indeed beyond, faithful followers of il calcio could see his potential. One of those people was De Laurentiis. He wasted little time and acted on Cavani’s ambitions to join a bigger club, beating off stiff competition from other Serie A giants to secure the young prospect. It would be the best bit of business he’d have ever done. Paired with Marek Hamšík and Ezequiel Lavezzi, Cavani took off in Walter Mazzari’s effective 3-4-1-2. Four goals in his first four matches including a breathtaking late winner at Sampdoria. But it was that cold January evening of 2011 against Juventus, which was Cavani’s christening moment at Napoli. El Matador ended that season with another two hattricks against Sampdoria and Lazio and 26 league goals – the highest scorer in a league season in Napoli’s history, at that time. With Cavani in the side, Napoli finished third, which meant automatic qualification for Europe’s finest competition – the Champions League, for the first time since the days of Maradona. Cavani Cavani che ci fà sognare – Cavani Cavani, makes us dream. And the tifosi did dream.
What makes a footballer so close to the people of the city? How’s the cult hero status earned? It’s not only the goals. Not only the quality of performances, but the heart in them. How much the shirt, the badge means to these individuals, who’re on a pitch representing the thousands in the stands. It’s why Bryan Robson is loved by United fans, Puyol by Barcelona fans and so many more. If you ask any Neapolitan what Edinson Cavani means to them, or why they love him as much as they do, they’ll mention his goals, yes. But they’ll most definitely mention the fight and valour of each of those performances in the famous blue shirt. “The crowd forgives a man who tries and fails but never a man that doesn’t try”, Jimmy Murphy had once preached to Matt Busby’s young team. Truer words have never been spoken. The spark that reignited the Neapolitan fire, not only did Cavani score goals and lift the Curva, he did it with the fire of the Vesuvius in every sprint and truly embodied the romance of the club.
Speaking of romance, where better to take one to, than Paris? After three successful seasons at Naples, Cavani left for the French capital for a reported €64 million fee, the most expensive transfer in French football history, at the time. There, the world sat up, took notice. His first goal came in the form of a late equaliser against Ajaccio, reminiscent of the one at Sampdoria. First touch to shift from right to his weaker left, second to bring the house down. He ended the season with 25 goals in all competitions and both of PSG’s goals in the Coupe De La Ligue final against Lyon. If Kylian Mbappe does not extend his stay at the Parc Des Princes beyond this season, it is likely that El Matador’s staggering 200 goals keeps him at the top of the list of PSG’s all-time top scorers. But he’s not a man for the record books, he’s one for the stories. So here’s one:
All aroud PSG’s lockeroom, were words taped together by the great man. Words such as ‘elegance’, ‘ambition’, ‘winning’, etc. When the famous 4-0 happened in Paris, against the mighty Barcelona in the 16/17 season, one of the greatest nights in the club’s history, Edi was tasked with cutting off progressive passes by Busquets, and later on Pique. Whilst also getting on the scoresheet, Edi respected and executed his task to perfection – one of many tales about his selflessness. Paris was on cloud nine. Directors were already looking for hotels in Cardiff and to add to the ecstasy, Marseille were crushed 5-0, days later.
What happened next, we all know. Amidst the Parisian collapse in Catalonia, Edinson Cavani stood tall and composed. Hitting the crossbar, scoring the only goal and putting in sprint after sprint. It wasn’t enough. 6-1 to Barcelona. The training sessions at Camp des Loges were silent and heavy, following the demolition. But when the going gets toughest, real men show themselves. He spoke to his teammates, more than usual. And he talked on the pitch too. 1st of April, another brace in a Cup final, this time against Monaco. What nobody knows is how he couldn’t walk three days prior to the game after coming back from a World Cup qualifying match in Peru. Inspite of that, he ran more than anybody else in that game. He finished the season with 49 goals in 50 games and the Coupe de France to his name. A gripping incident, however, occurred few days before the quarter finals of the competition at Avranches. Cavani, racing against time to get back from a knee sprain used to train alone with fitness coach Julen Masach. Bruno Salomon, a journalist, recalls seeing a player run back and forth in the pouring rain for close to an hour in the night, alone on the pitch, as he was sat doing paperwork. It was Edinson Cavani. Few days after the match, when the PSG players arrived at the Camp des Loges for training in the morning, they found the word ‘humilité’ stitched together using tape over one of the lockers. Humility. They had an idea who did it. The man who had abundance of it, himself. And a man that had become a silent voice, if not the leading one and a man whose presence asserted itself in that team. A leader. A man who understood the importance of a fight.
And which city to fight more than Manchester. Against the other half of the city, against the other teams in the country, everyone’s Cup final, against the forces which eat away at the ‘biggest club in England’ tag. From Salto to the Stretford End. For one of my favourite players of the past decade, Edi’s arrival at the club of my heart, was a tad late. Like Naples, Manchester is a working class, industrial city. A city that adores it’s heroes, fights for them. In the hope, that they too will fight back. A city that craves cult heroes. From that scene settling winner against Southampton – diving header, trademark Edi Cavani, to that almost unbelievable loop from halfway against Fulham, I personally, albeit controversially, loved every minute of Cavani at Old Trafford. And I’m grateful it happened because whenever he stepped onto the pitch as a United player, he gave it his all. That sprint and tackle across the breadth of the pitch against Villarreal captures that perfectly. Bearing the weight of the shirt and an attack alongside an off-form Anthony Martial, a Marcus Rashford nursing injuries, but ever present and a near-unplayable Bruno Fernandes, Cavani finished his first season with 17 goals and 6 assists. Manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s only regret? That it came in front of an empty, lifeless Stretford End. And when the voice returned this season, his injuries did too. We had a gala, however. And we loved singing about our centre forward, the king of Uruguay.
A master of his craft, it is often easy to forget how rare Cavani’s skillset is whilst praising his graft and work. Hand on heart, in my time watching football, very few have matched his intelligence in the box. Movement which eludes description. Cunning, wily, lazy on the eye, yet so deceptive. Away from the blitz of the Lewandoskis and Benzemas of this world, football was blessed to have had Cavani. For the ability but more so, for the vagrant, wagabond charm and joy.
El Matador, who could that be?
His first name’s Edinson, his second’s Cavani.
Sempre, Edi. Gracias.
Into Added Time 