Cissé and his dream debut with Atalanta: from the refugee team to Serie A

Rome, 21 Mar Guinean Moustapha Cissé made his debut this Sunday in Serie A with Atalanta and gave the victory to his team with a goal in the final stretch of the match against Bologna (1-0), in what has become a dream debut for the 18-year-old who until January played in the 'Second Category' of Italian football, in a team of refugees. Moustapha Cissé (Guinea-Conraky, 2003) arrived in Italy as an orphan in 2020, at the age of 16, after the death of his father. The young man found refuge in football, a sport he also practiced in the African country, and began playing at the ASD Rinascita Refugees in Apulia, a team in which he played for two years exclusively by asylum seekers in Italy, competing in one of the lowest categories of national football. It didn't take long for the striker to stand out in the team and achieved promotion with Rinascita Refugees to the 'Second Category'. The eyes of the scouts began to focus on the promising ram, and its rise in 2022 could not have been more meteoric. Cissé signed with Atalanta and traveled to Bergamo this past February to play the 'Primavera' tournament with Atalanta, a competition between 42 Serie A and Serie B teams made up of teams with young footballers, aged between 15 and 20, in which the attacker has once again shined with three goals in the three matches he has played in this youth championship. Italy's Gian Piero Gasperini didn't need much time to see the qualities of a striker with no major league experience but decided to bet on, and called him up for the match against Genoa on matchday 29 of Serie A, although he didn't have minutes. This day, Gasperini thought that the attacker could be useful in the top flight of Italian football to unblock the match against Bologna and gave the new addition a 25-minute chance. Once again, the Guinean performed excessively and restored his coach's confidence with a fundamental goal that settled the balance in favor of 'La Dea' to win three points that bring them back to the European positions and that keep alive the hope of achieving fifth place, in the Europa League, in what was a debut that, surely, not even the player himself could imagine. After his performance, Cissé, who has gone from playing in a refugee team from the Italian regional to Serie A in less than two months, is running as the new jewel of Atalanta in a season in which casualties have reduced the offensive of the northern Italian team. Gasperini, who continues to notice the lack of Colombian Duvan Zapata at the point of attack, may have found in an 18-year-old the alternative he lacked in the team. CHIEF tfc