Mimmo, the Genoese from the south » Who is the coach who won the trust of Dan Șucu

Genoa, with its winding streets, smelling of salt and wet, chose its adopted son in 2000, when a young man from Cercola, Naples, got off a night train with a large, senior bag with many collected. Criscito was only 14 years old and had that brooding, southern look that always seems to be looking for something above the horizon line.

Little did he know that he would find everything in the port city, on the shores of the Ligurian Sea: love, family and a complete, tried, round career.

Retired in 2023, when he brought Grifon back to Serie A, the former left back took over the Rossoblu academy, to become the coach of the U17 team a year later. Today, alongside Roberto Murgita, he is Patrick Vieira's replacement and the man who received all the trust, even temporarily, of a management recently stabilized by Dan Șucu, but with great fears, given the position in the ranking.

• Daniele De Rossi, last time on the Roma bench, is favorite to replace the interim Domenico Criscito. The Giallorossa legend could sign a contract until the end of the season with Genoawith an extension option, if it saves the team from relegation.

Domenico Criscito, from the child on the train to the emblem of a Genoese generation

He arrived at Genoa during a gray period of the club. Without glory, without promises, with stands that lived more on memories than on matches, Mimmo was a quiet kid from another time, a guy who believed in the joy of wearing the “maglia”.

Domenico Criscito made his debut immediately and was loaned to Juventus, then brought back “home”, as a son who had meanwhile learned discipline and defensive geometry. When he returned, Genoa was already a different club, with European dreams and the nerve of a small capital of romantic football.

Never a talker, in the city where the rain falls at unexpected angles and the fishermen don't tell stories until after sunset, Mimmo, an almost monastic presence, expressed himself through simple gestures. A clean tackle, a greeting to the supporters, a hug after a lost match.

Even though he had not shown his consistency, the offensive contribution raised many eyes. He established himself as one of the best young defenders in Italy and Juventus swooped in in 2004, with the Torinos buying half of his federation rights in a system of sharingtypical of Italian football since then. In other words, Genoa and Juve owned it in common.

After an excellent season in red and blue, in the second tier (2006–07), the “zebras” decided to bring him permanently to Turin. Guarantor: Claudio Ranieri. He was only 20 years old. At that time, Criscito was seen as the natural heir to Paolo Maldini in the national defense, being elegant, technical, able to come out with the ball from the defense.

For Juventus, the “black years” of the Calciopoli scandal followed, with enormous pressure and fierce competition: Chiellini, Legrottaglie, Grygera, Zebina.

After only a few appearances, Criscito began to be hesitant, overwhelmed by the context. Ranieri has decided that he is “not yet ready for a club like Juventus”. Returned to Liguria, in the 2008-09 season, he scored 35 appearances and 3 goals in Serie A, a signal performance for the management, who bought him back in full for 11.5 million euros.

Domenico Criscito, the idol of the Genoese gallery. Photo: Imago

31of goals and 13 decisive assists is the record of Domenico Criscito in the 291 matches in the jersey of the Genoa Cricket and Football Club

16 million eurosit was his highest market share in 2013, according to specialist portal Transfermarkt

Suspect of tops. Euro 2012, the deepest wound

The son of a factory worker and a housewife, Domenico made his debut for the Squadra Azzurra in Basel in 2009 in a friendly against Switzerland on the same day as Marchisio. It was, as he said in an interview, “one of the most beautiful days in his life”.

He also experienced the darkest moment at the national team, being investigated in the “Calcioscommesse” scandal. Initially, he was charged with association in illegal betting: “I suffered for ten years, that story cost me Euros”.

It was the spring of 2012, just before the final tournament, and Criscito, then a player at Zenit St. Petersburg, was a vector of progress in the conception of the selector Cesare Prandelli.

Italy saw him as a starter on the defensive flank. On May 28, just a few days after the summons, at six o'clock in the morning, the police knocked on his door, in Coverciano, where he was in the camp. The investigation, one of the largest investigations into match-fixing and illegal betting in Serie A and Serie B, named him among the suspects.

The reason? A photo taken of the Genoese ultras, dated 2011, taken shortly before a match with Siena, suspected to have been arranged.

“Not him,” teammates seemed to say. “No Mimmo.” Prosecutors in Cremona considered that the image could suggest complicity. There was no hard evidence to incriminate him, but in that tense time, image mattered more than proof.

Domenico Criscito leaving the Italian national team. Photo: Imago

The federation, in the midst of an image crisis, decided to exclude him from the Euro squad. After two years, he was fully acquitted, without any penalty: “I paid for a photo”.

It was the moment when Criscito understood that silence is a form of resistance. Then, with a wound that never fully healed, he became an even more inconspicuous figure to the public.

Beyond his career, Criscito's life has remained equally balanced. He has two sisters and a brother. He is married to Pamela, whom he has known since he was a teenager, he has three children, and the eldest, Alfredo and Alessandro, are now playing for Genoa's juniors.

• Played throughout his career at Genoa (2003-2004, one game), Juventus (2004-2009, 8 games), Genoa – loan (2006-2009, 87 games, 7 goals), Genoa (2009-2011, 65 games, two goals), Zenit St. Petersburg (2011-2018, 156 games, 15 goals), Genoa (2018-2022, 104 matches, 17 goals), Toronto FC (2022, 15 matches, one goal), Genoa (2023, 16 matches, one goal).

A captain among kingdoms, the tattoo and the promise

At Zenit, in Saint Petersburg, he discovered another type of football in 2011. The dawn brought him glory, money, trophies, but even there Mimmo remained Mimmo, an Italian with a soul at home, in the port where his small boat remained anchored, with his wife Pamela and their three children.

He missed the waves of Liguria, although in Russia he became a leader, a captain, a point of support for the youngsters in the dressing room. He kept his Neapolitan accent and his habit of reading the Peninsula news.

I had wonderful years at Zenit. It is not easy to go to Russia and leave such a beautiful memory. I will remember it forever: when I left, the fans were waiting for me at the airport at seven in the morning, after a great day at the stadium, I was in the pub with them.
– Domenico Criscito

When he returned to Genoa in 2018, the fans awaited him with signs. “Bentornato, Captain”. He was already a legend. Five years later, he put his shoulder to the club's return to the first stage.

At 36, Criscito scored his last goal from the penalty spot. He did not hide his tears, and after the match he went to the old center and, on his thigh, tattooed the date and the words: “Tutto tornA” (“Everything comes back”).

Domenico Criscito's tattoo

An immense joy, a privilege. To hit the last ball of your career and score in front of the lawn, something unique.
– Domenico Criscito

The next day, someone wrote on a wall in the old center. “Criscito non e andato via. E nel vento del mare”. In other words, Criscito didn't leave. It's in the sea wind.

It was not just an expression, but a testament. Mimmo, a man chosen by the city. Genoa, the root to which Mimmo always returned.

Domenico Criscito, at the last training session before Sassuolo – Genoa

• As a player, he was trained by the greatest coaches of his generation. Claudio Ranieri made his Serie A debut at Juventus. Marcello Lippi offered him his first call-up to the national team, for which he collected 26 selections between 2009 and 2018. He worked with Luciano Spalletti in Saint Petersburg, but he owes his revival and consecration to Gian Piero Gasperini.

• For Domenico, Gasperini is the source of inspiration both in terms of the principles of the game and the way to understand football. However, beyond the organization and tactics, he asks the youngsters to be happy: “When you get to the field, I say, smile! Show that you are happy to be here, in the open air, with a ball, among friends of your own age.”

• Criscito now joins other former students of Gasperini, such as Juric, Palladino or Thiago Motta, all of whom became coaches after years of training under the same mentor. “Starting with young people is real apprenticeship. I try to pass on what I know to them, but at the same time I learn a lot from them.”