Leonardo Pavoletti, the moving farewell message to Cagliari
Leonardo Pavoletti will say goodbye to Cagliari at the end of the season, ending his long adventure in Sardinia after 9 years. The striker thus leaves the Rossoblù club, which has paid tribute to him with a long note and the last seasonal episode of “PodCasteddu,” the official podcast of Cagliari Calcio.
In the statement, the club retraces his journey and the bond built with the city and the fans: “Leonardo Pavoletti is preparing to close his adventure as a Cagliari player. That it was something special could be guessed from the start, ever since that arrival in Cagliari on a warm late summer evening. Awaiting him at the airport was a rapturous crowd, a welcome quite unusual at these latitudes, reserved only for those footballers capable of really making their mark. In his suitcase a load of dreams and goals scored around Italy. The sliding doors of arrivals open wide, eyes shining with excitement: it is an overwhelming wave of enthusiasm, it is the first embrace of the Rossoblù people. There will be many more. That big Tuscan boy with the contagious smile could hardly have imagined that Sardinia would become his Happy Island, that place where he would start a family, give birth and raise his children, become a man. The story is one for the movies: an inextricable web of joys, even exhilarating ones, and then – suddenly – of difficult moments when the world seems to come crashing down on you. One minute you touch the sky with one finger, then the blow. A continuous test that life puts you through, but you always get back up and start again. The “Pavoloso” superhero cape worn on the field, off it – for everyone – simply Leonardo.”
“At Cagliari he was a protagonist with 231 matches and 52 goals: he wore the Azzurro, he entered the list of the best Rossoblù scorers of all time. A genuine center forward, a rare species, he scored in all ways: especially with a header, the firm’s specialty, in acrobatics. “If you put it in, Pavoletti scores,” the iconic chorus launched by teammates and fans. His have been very often heavy, non-trivial goals, capable of putting the seal on late victories, crazy comebacks. Feats that have been crucial in winning salvations, promotion with an epic flavor. Author of many pages in the red and blue book, “that” minute 94 of the Bari final consigns him to history. You certainly would have liked to end this journey on the field, but here too fate, consistent and mocking, put its hand in it. As captain you will still be there, as always, by the side of the team, to support it and transmit all your strength. The embrace of the red and blue people, the farewells. One certainty: some loves are not really made to say goodbye, Cagliari is and will always be your home. Thank you so much, Pavo!” the note ends.
