Athletico 100 years: Marolla, the penalty collector

Fiordemundo Marolla Junior – what a name, ladies and gentlemen — he arrived at Athletico in 1985 and scored the goal in the last title campaign in the first incarnation of Baixada.

In the interesting 1986 championship (we didn’t go to the finals due to goal difference), we went more than 600 minutes without conceding a goal. In 1987, he left Roberto Costa on the bench and, the following year, he reached the peak of his career.

In the first semester, he was the goalkeeper of the champion team from Paraná with Manguinha’s legendary goal at Pinheirão. In the second, in that Copa União in which every tied match was decided by penalty shootouts, Marolla saved 17 of the 44 shots against the red-black goal.

A legendary 40% success rate when saving penalties. He studied the penalty takers and was the goalkeeper who took the most penalties in the country. Thus, he guaranteed the extra points that saved us from relegation. In a single decision against Galo, at Mineirão, on December 15th, he saved four charges.

His paroxysmal Italian surname had the perfect sound for the radio announcers, and we, the boys who played naked in goal, repeated after every save: “Maroooolla!”.

Two years later, he was goalkeeper in another title poster, this time at Couto Pereira. Despite the great championship, he had failed in the final game and was saved by Berg’s own goal. Marolla now has a small school and carries out social actions in Jaú (SP), where he always follows Athletico.

In six years in our goal, he marked an era with his precise positioning, his boyish hair, his sober colored shirts and miraculous defenses. Idol of a generation.