Gianluca
Scamacca
"The Italian Future"
The role of the footballer has changed not only on the field but also off it, he has acquired a distinctly different social weight, a strong following and much more visibility thanks to social media and beyond. He has become the protagonist, with his tastes and aesthetics, of contemporaneity: "By now the future for a player is also on the web. In agreement with my sports agency, World Soccer Agency, I try to tell something about myself on social media, something that from the field or on TV maybe doesn't shine through. It's nice to show more sides of yourself so that people have the chance to get passionate not only about the player but also about the person."
Full look VALENTINO.
The leap into the future starts from the past, however, because the conversation takes place exactly the day after the game against Bologna, in which he played 95 minutes under scorching heat, scoring two goals. "For me the goal is the crowning achievement of the week, after all the work comes the right reward. Using other words, the goal I can associate it with is the feeling you get, after a week of stress between work and many other things, the moment you finally get to be with your girlfriend and have a drink together, relaxing". Although scoring goals has never been an obsession for Scamacca, there have been times this season when he has risked becoming one. "This year it happened to me before Udine, there were five games that I hadn't scored and I was thinking a lot about it. However, it's at the very moment when you then don't think about it as much, that the goal comes. If you live something as an obsession you push it away, you don't attract it."
Just by seeing him live, standing in his 5'9", it is already clear why Scamacca is considered the future center forward of the Italian national team. At my mention of the double that came less than twenty-four hours earlier, where together we retraced his cutback on Frattesi's perfect feed, he responded with a simple smile. This is one of the characteristics of the forward of the future, making difficult things look easy through a talent that cannot be taught but must be cultivated with passion and hard work.
After all, even before football became his profession and career, from an early age it was his passion, his primary goal, a fundamental part of his life: "I have always been directed toward football, I have relatives and friends who are in love with the sport, everything came of itself. In fact, I even tried to switch sports and play basketball, but I quickly realized it was not for me, even though I am tall." And before arriving where he is today, Scamacca went through all the hard work that marks the career of a young soccer player, no matter how extremely talented he is.
He tasted the Serie B pitches with Cremonese and Ascoli, went even earlier to Holland, and, before consecrating himself with the Sassuolo jersey, last year he scored eight times with the Genoa jersey. "My path helped me so much, it seems obvious to say, but nobody gave me anything, I had to sweat, to fight with the knife between my teeth to make my way. I think this season is a small reward for never giving up. I will definitely remember this year, however, I hope it is the first of many more good ones."
Full look ETRO and sunglasses OAKLEY.
A football passion linked inseparably with that for fashion and tattoos. The former is not hidden, as we noticed it from the first moment he crossed the threshold of the nss offices with his Air Jordan 1 Low Travis Scott x Fragment and later with his naturalness on set. In fact, Scamacca is a big fan of fashion, he himself confirms this to us by stressing the importance of each of his choices: "In my opinion, the way you dress describes so much your personality, the real you."
A world that, although obviously at 23 years old one still has no clear idea of what will come after the professional career, he would like to explore more and more in the future. "I think opportunities if you go ahead and do well present themselves at your door. Working with a brand wouldn't be bad for me, who knows maybe in a future." For the moment he tells us he is focused on soccer and only interested in what is going on around, however he is always well aware of new releases especially of some brands he confesses to us that he follows with particular interest. "Right now without a doubt Dior, all the items. Also Balenciaga, however I think Dior in the last few years has really depopulated and done well really everything they have made."
Full look VALENTINO.
Just as fashion has entered on the football pitch, it is also true in the reverse direction, with champions influencing the collections of major fashion houses with their style and personality. Among them are some who have most impacted Scamacca's aesthetic. "I can't not mention Depay, I really like his style, or Sanè and his streetwear approach," he tells us. And in the continuous contamination we are witnessing, with game jerseys becoming a fashion show outfit, he sees great potential. "I think both can gain from this relationship, it's something that benefits one and the other. They can help each other, and then we are seeing it, especially in the last period, they dialogue very well."
A constant relationship even if this year in Italy in his view no collaboration or jersey has particularly stood out. It is abroad, in the Bundesliga, that he has found his favorite: "Borussia Dortmund's away uniform with the squares. But only in terms of style!"
"I think both can gain from this relationship, it's something that benefits one and the other. They can help each other, and then we are seeing it, especially in the last period, they dialogue very well."
Full look VALENTINO.
Full look N21.
That for tattoos is then an even more visible love, born "when I was a kid and a friend of my sister's was full of tattoos and I was attracted to that way of coloring my skin”. They go beyond the jersey and extend to above the neck, across the chest to where the socks are. "Some mean something important, some don't," he confides. He made the first one at 13 years of age and it could only be dedicated to football. Was made to celebrate with his teammates their special victory in the Giovanissimi Nazionali championship and reads, "Make your dreams not remain dreams but make your life a mission." It is one of those tattoos that we could call "old school," almost faded and accompanied by flowers and frames enclosing the aforementioned inscription. Speaking of the future, it certainly won't stop there since many parts of her body are still free of ink, which almost overshadows her muscle tone. "Arm, leg, I have to complete various things, we'll see".
But beyond this there is more, something invisible even to the most attentive eyes that every Sunday scrutinize his every movement or cut to the area with extreme attention: "a passion that has come to me now is that of enology and wine production, I would like to study and learn more about it. Then at this time I'm also taking paddle lessons, I'm not good yet so I need someone to help me. Gaming is also something I'm interested in without a doubt, I often play with Frattesi". Scamacca and Frattesi are in fact teammates but more importantly friends, they have known each other since childhood and both chased each other a bit until they found themselves together in the same team in Serie A.
However, about their relationship when it’s time to compete on PlayStation he can only tell me this, "Look I don't comment (laughs ed.), he is very lucky and then he bothers me while we play, he hits me. I win more of course, however when he wins it looks like he won 100. He makes me nervous (laughs ed.), only we are friends and I stay calm at the end. Then on Sundays he gives me good assists, actually he owes me dinner by the way." In fact, the two even made a particular bet at the beginning of the year: "we told each other that whoever scores or makes assists, pays for the other's dinner. I'm saving now because he hasn't scored in a while!" Fun for the two but especially for Scamacca, a way to clear his mind in his spare time. Although the forward of the future never takes his eyes off the goal: "At the end of the day, gaming is a form of recreation: we have different amounts of free time, so we take advantage of it to play and unplug a bit. However, I personally don't like to play too much. Also because you never unplug from football, I always think about the game, training, the mind is always there."
Talent: Gianluca Scamacca
Photographer: Gianluca Normanno
Stylist: Allison Fullin
MUA: Cinzia Trifiletti
Photographer Assistant: Mathida De Paoli
Light Assistant: Nico Barbieri
Art Director: Alessandro Bigi
Editorial Coordinators: Elisa Ambrosetti - Edoardo Lasala
Video Editor: Ilaria Grande
Production: nss factory
Words: Emanuele D'Angelo
