Leeds United striker Gnonto follows in steps of legendary Italy trio Camoranesi, Buffon and Del Piero
Willy Gnonto may have dropped into the Championship with Leeds United this season, but the young striker continues to be selected for national side Italy.
The 19-year-old was brought on in the 82nd minute of the Azzurri’s 1-1 draw away at North Macedonia on Saturday [9 September] in Euro 2024 qualifying.
That was Gnonto’s 12th senior cap, and his first since officially becoming a second-division player at club level following Leeds’ relegation from the Premier League and his subsequent failure in trying to force through an exit.
As pointed out by journalist Andrea Russo on Twitter on Saturday [9 September], in coming off the bench at Tose Proeski Arena, Gnonto became the first Italian player to represent Italy in a Euros qualifier while playing for a club plying their trade outside of a top tier since March 2007.
On that occasion, Mauro Camoranesi, Gianluigi Buffon and Alessandro Del Piero all played for Italy in their 2-0 win over Scotland.
All three were part of Italy’s successful World Cup-winning squad the previous year, and were only playing in Serie B at the time due to Juventus’ infamous relegation as part of the Calciopoli scandal, making Gnonto’s achievement all the more impressive.
Indeed, Russo added that before that occasion, you have to go back to 1982-83 for the most recent occasion a second-tier player featured in a major qualifying match for Italy, when AC Milan’s Franco Baresi and Fulvio Collovati did so.
It goes to show just how highly thought of Gnonto is by his country, who are now managed by Luciano Spalletti following Roberto Mancini’s exit, and also just how fortunate Leeds are to still have a player of his quality their hands.
Hopefully for Gnonto, the fallout from the summer can soon be forgotten about once he finds his scoring boots.
In other Leeds United news, Weston McKennie has spoken out on his Elland Road departure.