EVAN FERGUSON GOT an early taste of the adoration on offer in Rome when he landed in Italy’s capital to complete his loan move from Brighton & Hove Albion during the summer.
Scores of fans were there to welcome the Republic of Ireland international. As he prepared for their embrace, his cheeks went flush with a mixture of shyness and excitement.
They will be roaring red with delight if the striker can net his first goal for AS Roma in the Derby della Capitale against SS Lazio tomorrow.
Ferguson has already endeared himself to the Giallorossi faithful with performances of strength and composure leading the line in Serie A.
A goal now would do wonders for a young man who celebrates his 21st birthday on 19 October.
Should he score the winner in a game of such magnitude, of renowned fervour, it’s not hyperbole to suggest a lasting legacy in the Eternal City, one that will remain long after he is an old man, when he is retired and asked to recall the great days of his career.
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Those days are – hopefully – all ahead of him and this weekend could yet pass with little consequence or reason to remember it.
“Let the banter prevail, but let it not remain within the bounds of violence; that’s something that kills football,” Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini said ahead of this weekend.
That quote, and the 11.30am kick-off (Irish time), is a consequence of the violence that has marred this fixture. Last April, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said that it was “unacceptable that hooligans transform a day of sport into a scene of urban warfare.”
At the time, the Associated Press reported €40,000 worth of damage was cost as fans and police clashed, resulting in 24 law enforcement officers injured and seven arrests.
Gasperini has enough on his mind. His team are seventh, five places ahead of Lazio, but have scored just two goals and will be without the creative talents of the injured Paulo Dybala.
Roma have the option to buy Ferguson for €40 million at the end of this season. It is a fee which the Friedkin Group – the club’s owners and one of nine north American consortiums/families that have controlling stakes of clubs in Italy’s top division – will happily part with if the striker can maintain his early promise and help deliver Champions League qualification.
They missed out by just one point last season and were 13 adrift of the champions – a title Roma have not held for almost quarter of a century. Francesco Totti was captain when they lifted the Scudetto, Fabio Capello was manager, and the great Gabriel Batistuta was their top scorer with 20 goals.
Ferguson scored twice for Ireland in that brutal start to World Cup qualifying, drawing his country level against Hungary before arrowing an impressive first-time strike for what was merely a consolation in a 2-1 defeat to Armenia.
Ferguson had started Roma’s first two Serie A games before that international break and made such a positive impact with his performances in those wins that Gasperini was asked to explain his reasons for resting him on his return, when Roma lost to Torino and the 20-year-old was brought on as a half-time substitute.
“It was necessary. Not all the internationals returned in top condition, but that said, the decision was justified,” Gasperini said. “Playing at such temperatures [in the early afternoon] doesn’t help, and you have to make as few mistakes as possible. We lacked pace and a high tempo, and against teams that are good at defending, it’s hard to break down the wall.”
There is a renewed confidence in Ferguson’s play that is partly borne from a trust that has been shown in him by Gasperini, but also the godsend of remaining injury free and feeling match fit.
The pair spoke before Ferguson made it clear Roma was his preferred destination over the summer. There were no empty promises or vague ideas of what was to come from the move to Italy.
Gasperini demanded hard work and adaptability, and Ferguson has so far obliged. He left the supposed comfort of England – with three years remaining on a very generous contract at Brighton – to test his resolve in Serie A.
Ferguson’s last goal in club football came almost a year ago, when he came off the bench for Brighton and made it 2-0 before Wolverhampton Wanderers staged a dramatic comeback with goals in the 88th and 93rd minutes.
That was 26 October 2024, a date that will be forgotten in an instant if Ferguson can become the first Irish player to score in the Rome derby.
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Evan Ferguson finds adoration in Rome but a goal against Lazio would make him Eternal
EVAN FERGUSON GOT an early taste of the adoration on offer in Rome when he landed in Italy’s capital to complete his loan move from Brighton & Hove Albion during the summer.
Scores of fans were there to welcome the Republic of Ireland international. As he prepared for their embrace, his cheeks went flush with a mixture of shyness and excitement.
They will be roaring red with delight if the striker can net his first goal for AS Roma in the Derby della Capitale against SS Lazio tomorrow.
Ferguson has already endeared himself to the Giallorossi faithful with performances of strength and composure leading the line in Serie A.
A goal now would do wonders for a young man who celebrates his 21st birthday on 19 October.
Should he score the winner in a game of such magnitude, of renowned fervour, it’s not hyperbole to suggest a lasting legacy in the Eternal City, one that will remain long after he is an old man, when he is retired and asked to recall the great days of his career.
Those days are – hopefully – all ahead of him and this weekend could yet pass with little consequence or reason to remember it.
“Let the banter prevail, but let it not remain within the bounds of violence; that’s something that kills football,” Roma boss Gian Piero Gasperini said ahead of this weekend.
That quote, and the 11.30am kick-off (Irish time), is a consequence of the violence that has marred this fixture. Last April, Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said that it was “unacceptable that hooligans transform a day of sport into a scene of urban warfare.”
At the time, the Associated Press reported €40,000 worth of damage was cost as fans and police clashed, resulting in 24 law enforcement officers injured and seven arrests.
Gasperini has enough on his mind. His team are seventh, five places ahead of Lazio, but have scored just two goals and will be without the creative talents of the injured Paulo Dybala.
Roma have the option to buy Ferguson for €40 million at the end of this season. It is a fee which the Friedkin Group – the club’s owners and one of nine north American consortiums/families that have controlling stakes of clubs in Italy’s top division – will happily part with if the striker can maintain his early promise and help deliver Champions League qualification.
They missed out by just one point last season and were 13 adrift of the champions – a title Roma have not held for almost quarter of a century. Francesco Totti was captain when they lifted the Scudetto, Fabio Capello was manager, and the great Gabriel Batistuta was their top scorer with 20 goals.
Ferguson scored twice for Ireland in that brutal start to World Cup qualifying, drawing his country level against Hungary before arrowing an impressive first-time strike for what was merely a consolation in a 2-1 defeat to Armenia.
Ferguson had started Roma’s first two Serie A games before that international break and made such a positive impact with his performances in those wins that Gasperini was asked to explain his reasons for resting him on his return, when Roma lost to Torino and the 20-year-old was brought on as a half-time substitute.
“It was necessary. Not all the internationals returned in top condition, but that said, the decision was justified,” Gasperini said. “Playing at such temperatures [in the early afternoon] doesn’t help, and you have to make as few mistakes as possible. We lacked pace and a high tempo, and against teams that are good at defending, it’s hard to break down the wall.”
There is a renewed confidence in Ferguson’s play that is partly borne from a trust that has been shown in him by Gasperini, but also the godsend of remaining injury free and feeling match fit.
The pair spoke before Ferguson made it clear Roma was his preferred destination over the summer. There were no empty promises or vague ideas of what was to come from the move to Italy.
Gasperini demanded hard work and adaptability, and Ferguson has so far obliged. He left the supposed comfort of England – with three years remaining on a very generous contract at Brighton – to test his resolve in Serie A.
Ferguson’s last goal in club football came almost a year ago, when he came off the bench for Brighton and made it 2-0 before Wolverhampton Wanderers staged a dramatic comeback with goals in the 88th and 93rd minutes.
That was 26 October 2024, a date that will be forgotten in an instant if Ferguson can become the first Irish player to score in the Rome derby.
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