436: Massimo Maccarone, Middlesbrough, Merlin’s F.A. Premier League 04 Official Sticker Collection, Autograph Edition

Today Richard Allinson brings us one of the great underdog stories from European club football’s recent past providing further evidence of why the Champions League will always be an inferior competition to the UEFA Cup (and of course the Cup Winners’ Cup). As for the pasta debacle that kicks the post off I can only apologise to Lasagne Diarra that he didn’t make the list. Over to Rich.

Jefferson Farfalle; Penne Carbone; ParpaDelle Alli; FusilLee Bowyer; Chris Riggottoni; SpaghEtienne Capoue; TagliatAli Dia... All good puns*, all good footballers** but not all are subjects of this blog. That dubious honour falls to Massimo ‘Macaroni’ Maccarone.

*They’re all terrible puns.

**Ali Dia wasn’t a good footballer.

Throughout a career lasting 22 years, Massimo racked up 693 games and 228 goals for twelve clubs as well as earning two full international caps for Italy. However, he is perhaps best known on these shores for the role he played in Middlesbrough’s charge to the 2006 UEFA Cup final AKA “the greatest night in the history of football” (according to radio commentator and completely unbiased Boro fan Alastair Brownlee at least). In recent times (the mid-nineties is still recent in my head, just FYI) some standout overseas players have graced the Riverside such as Juninho, Emerson, Fabrizio Ravanelli, Gaizka Mendieta, Christian Karembeu, Christian Ziege, Geremi, Gianluca Festa, Benny Carbone, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Mark Viduka, Yakubu, Alen Bokšić and Boudewijn Zenden. Not forgetting Joseph Desire Job and Mikkel Beck too, obviously. Maccarone doesn’t maybe have the CV of some of the above names, but his role in Boro’s journey to their most famous night can’t be underestimated, and has earned him cult status on Teesside.

Boro’s route to the final was littered with matches against teams that either sound like made up clubs on computer games, or sides whose sole purpose seems to be getting knocked out in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup. The first round tie saw them overcome Greek behemoths Skoda Xanthi, before they topped the table ahead of Grasshopper, AZ Alkmaar, Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk and Litex Lovech in the group stage. However, it was in the knockout stages where Steve McLaren’s men really started grabbing the headlines. First up in the round of 32 was German side Stuttgart. A 2-1 away win courtesy of goals from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Stuart Parnaby, followed by a 0-1 home defeat was enough to see them progress to the next round on account of that most UEFA Cup of all things - away goals. Next up was Roma in the last 16. The Italians, littered with players that were good on Championship Manager but not that good in real life (Mexes, Chivu etc.) were again seen off on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate scoreline. So far, so good. But also so far, no Maccarone. However, it was in the quarter-finals where Steve McClaren’s fifth choice striker would write his name into North Yorkshire folklore.

First up was a tie against Basel. The first leg saw Boro get pumped 2-0 in everyone’s favourite square flagged, watch making country. Things really looked completely knackered when Eduardo scored for the Swiss club at the Riverside, putting them 1-0 up on the night and 3-0 on aggregate. Boro needed four goals and a miracle. Two from Mark Viduka and one from Hassselbaink had pulled things level at 3-3, but they were still heading out on away goals until… Cometh the hour, cometh the Maccarone. Going into the last minute, Fabio Rochemback’s shot was saved and Maccarone hit the rebound home from a tight angle to secure Middlesbrough’s passage to the next round. I advise anyone to go and listen to Ali Brownlee’s commentary of this moment, it gets right to the core of the emotion and passion of supporting “your team”. Even as a non-Boro fan, his description of “the greatest comeback since Lazarus” makes me smile.

“Massimo, I love him until I die.” If Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink had this to say about Maccarone after the Basel game, then God knows what his feelings were after the semi-final against Steaua Bucharest. Going into the second leg at the Riverside 1-0 down on aggregate, Boro were already facing an uphill battle to progress to the final. When they went 2-0 down on the night (3-0 on aggregate) things were looking well and truly done for. That is before Maccarone, on as a 26th minute substitute for future waistcoat advocate Gareth Southgate, pulled one back. Mark Viduka and Chris Riggott then got in on the act to make it 3-3 on aggregate but Boro, still trailing on away goals, needed a fourth to secure a spot in the final. Cometh the hour, cometh the Maccarone… As the game went into the 89th minute, Stuart Downing pinged a ball into the box and Massimo headed home the winner. Teesside went mental, and Boro were through to the final.

They would eventually go on to get spanked 4-0 by Sevilla, but as underwhelming as that was, it still couldn’t erase the magic of those two comebacks. Much like the club, things were never to hit the same heights for Maccarone. As I mentioned at the start of this piece, he had a nomadic career, but, it was his spell in the north of England, and for two games in particular that he will be best remembered. Cult hero and loved by Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. What more can you want out of life?