nationalcaps birth_date currentclub pcupdate years youthyears caps goals nationalyears image name caption fullname ntupdate birth_place nationalteam height clubnumber nationalgoals youthclubs clubs position article_title
9 2 2 8 9 39 12 july 1982 sampdoria 9 august 2015 1997 2007 -- 2008 2008 -- 2011 2011 -- 2012 2012 -- -- 2013 2013 -- 2015 2015 -- 1998 2001 -- 2006 2006 -- 2008 1997 -- 1998 48 118 19 22 74 33 28 53 0 6 39 2 10 25 7 8 17 0 1998 1998 1999 2000 2000 -- 2002 2003 -- antonio cassano euro 2012 vs england.jpg antonio cassano cassano playing for italy at the uefa euro 2012 antonio cassano 24 june 2014 bari , italy italy u21 italy u15 italy u16 italy u18 italy u20 italy 1.75 99 2 0 0 2 3 10 bari bari sampdoria milan internazionale parma sampdoria roma real madrid → sampdoria -lrb- loan -rrb- second striker antonio cassano

antonio cassano

antonio cassano -lrb- ; born 12 july 1982 -rrb- is an italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for serie a club sampdoria .
although he is usually deployed as a creative supporting forward , he can also play in more of a playmaking role , as an attacking midfielder , as well as on the wing , or as a striker .
nicknamed `` il gioiello di bari vecchia '' -lrb- `` the jewel of old bari '' -rrb- , and `` fantantonio '' -lrb- `` fantastic antonio '' -rrb- , he is known for his short temper as much as his ability on the pitch , which led to the coining of the neologism `` cassanata '' by his former coach , fabio capello , in november 2002 .
the word is regularly used by italian journalists as a euphemism for any behavior incompatible with team spirit in football .
cassano is described as a player who is `` skillful and intelligent on the ball '' who possesses `` excellent vision and also impresses with his eye for goal '' .
his best technical qualities are his trapping skills , control , dribbling , and passing accuracy .
