Today is the birthday of one of the greatest Roma forwards in recent memory.
Vincenzo Montella spent ten years with the club, from 1999 to 2009, going down in Roma folklore for his tremendous goalscoring ability. He lies sixth on the club’s all-time scoring chart.
He also spent a brief period as Roma’s caretaker manager in 2011.
Relive some of the best moments of his career with these three moments of magic.
Goal vs Milan, 2000/01
In 2001, L’aeroplanino scored a beautiful goal against one of the clubs he would later coach. Receiving the ball wide left, he showed elegant control of the ball whilst dribbling inside, before chipping the ball from distance over Milan keeper Sebastiano Rossi. The goal secured a valuable point in the race for the Scudetto, which would be sealed two games later against Parma.
Bicycle kick vs Chievo, 2004/05
Montella gained a new lease of life in the 2004/05 season, scoring 17 more goals than he had in the previous campaign. One of those came against Chievo, and was another example of stunning technique. A cross came in from the left, and Roma’s number 9 executed an overhead kick to score. There was nothing the goalkeeper could do.
Derby Della Capitale, 2001/02
Montella loved scoring against Lazio, which endeared him to the Roma fans (only three players have scored more derby goals than him). In 2002, he was instrumental in one of the best derbies in Roma’s history. Fabio Capello’s side stormed to a 5-1 win over their rivals, in a game memorable for an extraordinary Francesco Totti goal. The other four that day were all scored by Montella, in a superb individual display. The pinnacle of his quadruple was a left-footed belter from outside the box, which flew into the top corner of Angelo Peruzzi’s net.
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