Italians Cirillo and Belardi to Play for Pune at the ISL

Bruno Cirillo, the 37-year old defender and Emanuele Belardi, the 36-year old goalkeeper both from Italy have signed on to play as a part of Pune’s team in the upcoming ISL. They move has been affirmed by the Italian Football Association, making them the first Italians to ever play on Indian soil.

Cirillo has had experience playing all across Europe as he has had stints with Greece’s AEK Athens and PAOK, France’s FC Metz and Spain’s Levante. One of the nigh points of his career was his 2000-2001 season with Inter Milan. The very same year (2000) saw his victory at the U-21 UEFA Football Championship, as well.

Keeper Belardi has played with Napoli and Juventus, his latest stint being with Italian club Pescara. He has a total of 230 senior club appearances and was even understudy to Buffon during his time in Juventus.

Both the players are pretty old but remained active till the last year, so they are not too rust and have every chance to really shine for Pune FC. The signing on of the Italians in the Salman Khan and Wadhwan co-owned team is apparently because of the club’s tie-up with the Italian Fiorentina.

Check out skills :