Cagliari, this Kourfalidis deserves a chance in midfield

But it is not that the Cagliari do you already have a reinforcement in midfield at home? The heartfelt challenge in Italian Cup, lost 1-0 in Reggio Emilia against Sassuolo, showed the right attitude of some of the group’s alternatives Mazzarri who showed up at the home of the green-and-blacks without 11 players affected by Covid (6 from the first team and 5 Primavera) in addition to the many chronic injuries and the unavailable (Ceppitelli, Keita, Strootman, just to mention a few). Among all the young people who took to the field at Mapei Stadium, however, there is one boy who struck the most: Christos Kourfalidis.

Young-old
19 years old for the Greek class of 2002 who, however, on the pitch, after taking Agostini’s Primavera by the hand during the season, showed a good athletic and tactical maturity even among the professionals. In Reggio Emilia he was among the best in the field, after having already done well against Cittadella in the previous round of the Italian Cup. Captain of the young rossoblù Kourfalidis in this Spring 1 championship has collected 13 appearances seasoned by 4 assists. He is a very modern all-camp player, he knows how to act as a filter in the middle but when he pushes forward he is always dangerous. Fight (the 6 seasonal yellows confirm this) but in his young career he also played wide and advanced by a few meters so he knows how to push and loves to get in or pull from outside. In 2018 the rossoblù took him from Makedonikos Litis, in 2019 the loan in Serie D at Foggia di Felleca where he put together 20 appearances and a goal in the league, plus 4 appearances in the Italian Cup of the category. Then the return to Sardinia where it became fundamental last season to give balance to Agostini’s midfield and finally the definitive leap in quality of this vintage. Last summer he signed a contract until 2023 with the rossoblù, with the possible option to extend the agreement until 2024.

Numbers
Four tackles won (best in the field), 20 duels made, 5 balls recovered but also 4 total shots tested (2 rejected, 1 away and 1 saved). These are his numbers in Reggio Emilia against Sassuolo, in his second absolute presence with the professionals of his career. He sings, beats, carries the cross and, if he can, also tries Kourfalidis’ personal solution. He is the classic box-to-box midfielder that Cagliari does not currently have among the alternatives in the squad. Mazzarri’s team’s run-up season doesn’t help him, and putting too much pressure on a 19-year-old boy would also be unfair, but with Sassuolo Kurfa, as his team-mates call him in the Primavera, he has shown that he can stay there. Taking it into consideration as a boost also in Serie A between the negative liquidity index and exotic and unconvincing names that have emerged from the market would not seem so madness for Cagliari. Will the good performance of the Italian Cup be enough for Kourfalidis to convince Mazzarri and Giulini?

Roberto Pinna