A new record was set within Roma’s brief stint in this season’s Coppa Italia, with Antonio Arena becoming their youngest player to score on his debut.
In years gone by, Amedeo Amadei and Stefano Okaka are the only players to have scored at a younger age than Arena, but neither scored on their debut. Amadei’s first goal was on his third appearance in 1937 and Okaka’s was on his second in 2005. The same goes for Alberto Di Chiara, who was exactly the same age as Arena when he opened his account in 1981.
So, of all the players to score on their debut for Roma, here are the 11 youngest.
Antonio Arena
16 years, 11 months, 3 days
While dozens of different players have marked their Roma debut with a goal, you would be hard pressed to find one who did so as quickly after stepping onto the pitch as Arena.
Following his arrival from Pescara in the summer, where he had already scored in Serie C, Arena got his first-team chance in Roma’s Coppa Italia round of 16 clash with Torino in January.
A minute after being sent on by Gian Piero Gasperini, Arena headed in an equaliser for Roma, who unfortunately went on to concede and lose 3-2.
Filippo Scardina
17 years, 9 months, 20 days
Scardina is the only other Roma player to score on debut before turning 18, but that moment of excitement was about as good as it got for his career.
In December 2009, Scardina came on for the closing stages of a Europa League clash with CSKA Sofia, scoring for Claudio Ranieri’s side eight minutes later to complete a 3-0 win.
However, it remained the attacker’s only appearance for Roma before embarking on a career spent primarily in the third tier of Italian football.
Paolo Baldieri
18 years, 2 months, 12 days
After joining Roma in 1981 from local side Romulea LUPA, where he had gained some experience in the fourth tier, Baldieri had to wait until April 1983 – during the season of Roma’s second Scudetto – to make his debut.
Still only 18 at the time, it came in a Coppa Italia win over Avellino. After coming on in the second half, Baldieri scored the last goal in a 5-3 win. He didn’t make any appearances towards the league victory that season, but did end up staying with Roma until 1990, interrupted by spells away with Pisa, Empoli and Avellino themselves.
Filippo Tasso
18 years, 2 months, 14 days
In the mid-1950s, Tasso emerged in the fourth tier of Italian football with Fanfulla before earning a move to Roma in 1958.
He only played five times for the club, but boasted an impressive ratio by scoring four goals, the first of which was the opener in an Inter-Cities Fairs Cup visit to Hannover.
Giancarlo Bacci
18 years, 2 months, 25 days
Beginning his career with Viareggio and Lucchese, Bacci joined Roma in 1949, the same summer he turned 18.
He scored Roma’s first goal of the new Serie A season against Pro Patria and also in their final game against Milan, with a small handful of others in between.
Bacci remained at Roma for one more season, but left after it ended in relegation to Serie B.
Walter Casaroli
18 years, 9 months, 27 days
The Rome-born Casaroli didn’t just score on his first appearance for Roma, but he scored on his second as well, within the same month.
It was February 1976 and a teenage Casaroli opened the scoring against Cagliari in what became a 5-1 win, before scoring Roma’s second against Cesena within a 2-2 draw.
A loan spell with Como came the season after before another two seasons spent back in Rome.
Nicolás López
18 years, 10 months, 26 days
On the back of his breakout with Nacional in his native Uruguay, López joined Roma in January 2012, initially for the Primavera squad.
He was promoted to the first team for the 2012-13 season and replaced Francesco Totti to make his debut. About eight minutes after his introduction, López nicked a stoppage-time equaliser to secure a 2-2 draw with Catania.
It was his only goal in Roma colours, as he drew a blank on his other six appearances that season before leaving for Udinese.
Guido Ugolotti
18 years, 11 months, 14 days
Ugolotti is the only player to have scored in each of his first three appearances for Roma, which is even more impressive considering his age at the time.
A product of Roma’s academy, he scored the winner against Torino after coming on as a substitute for his debut in September 1977. A week later, he scored in a 3-2 loss to Perugia, and the week after that, he scored the only goal in a win over Foggia.
But he suffered a serious injury after his fourth appearance, only returning in February (with another goal against Pescara). He spent the 1980-81 season out on loan before his Roma career ended in 1982.
Dante Di Benedetti
19 years, 3 months, 12 days
A product of Roma’s early youth system, Di Benedetti debuted for the senior team in 1936, within the first 10 years of the club’s existence.
That February, he opened the scoring against Napoli on his debut. Impressively, he ended that season as Roma’s top scorer in the league, despite only coming into the team more than halfway through (and this was a side who finished second by one point).
Di Benedetti left Roma in 1937 to join Fiorentina, with 19 goals behind him. He remained the highest-scoring Roma player with fewer than 50 appearances right up until Romelu Lukaku‘s sole season with the club in 2023-24.
Érik Lamela
19 years, 7 months, 19 days
Roma brought Lamela into European football from Argentine side River Plate in 2011. The winger had to wait until that October for his debut, but he made it count, scoring seven minutes into a 1-0 win over Palermo.
Lamela’s respectable debut season was followed by a noticeable uplift over his second, which included a streak of six consecutive games with at least one goal and ultimately earned him a Premier League move with Tottenham Hotspur by the age of 21.
Omero Carmellini
19 years, 8 months, 29 days
All three of Carmellini’s appearances for Roma were over the autumn months of 1940. The former Rimini player scored in the 34th minute of his Roma debut against Venezia in a 5-2 win.
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