Gianluca Lapadula He is one of the most popular players in the Peru team. Since he agreed to represent the bicolor, “Lapagol” quickly won the love of many fans due to his good performances and personality in general. His performances at club level have also been notable since then and he recently managed to regain promotion to Serie A with Cagliari, a feat he first achieved seven years ago when he was a goalscorer at Pescara.
However, neither of his two promotions as Serie B champions came about. In 2016, Lapadula finished fourth with Pescara and lastly finished fifth with Pescara. Gianluca Lapadula won the Italian Super Cup with AC Milan on December 23 of the same year, the only one he would achieve with the Red-Blacks. Although it is the most famous, it was not the first title for “Lapagol” as a professional.
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What was the first title of Gianluca Lapadula’s career?
Before Gianluca Lapadula made the breakthrough with Pescara, he went through several teams in Italy’s promotion. His first particularly successful season was in 2011/12 with fourth division club San Marino. In the game that followed, he failed to score in Serie C with Cesena or Frosinone, but something better was reserved for 2013-2014. There Lapadula made it into the first Slovenian league.
Even if it may sound strange for Peruvians, it was normal for several foreign soccer players back then to see the Slovenian league as a stepping stone to show themselves and achieve better goals in the future. Gianluca Lapadula signed for ND Gorica, the country’s second-biggest team with the most domestic titles (4). This club had a good relationship with Parma, the club that owned the “Lapagol” pass.
Gianluca Lapadula scored three goals with ND Gorica in four Slovenian Cup games in 2013/14. Photo: Ales Fevzer
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Apart from the current striker of the Peru team, Gorica had 14 foreigners in its ranks, 10 of them Italians. Arriving on loan until the end of the season, Lapadula knew how to make his mark in this country. At the age of 24 he won the first title of his career after beating Maribor 2-0 in the Slovenian Cup final.
How was Gianluca Lapadula doing at ND Gorica in Slovenia?
Gianluca Lapadula quickly established himself as a regular at ND Gorica. In 32 league and cup games he played 2,330 minutes and scored a total of 14 goals. Curiously, Lapadula wore the “10” and did not play as a center forward, but as a right winger. The “9” was the Italian Massimo Coda, who also played in the last Serie B with Genoa. The fans of the club also had fond memories of him.
In Slovenia it was also highlighted that Gianluca Lapadula managed to be called up to the Italian team once. Photo: EFE
Something that got a lot of attention was that years later in Slovenia it was highlighted that Gianluca Lapadula was the foreigner from ND Gorica 2013-14 who exploded the most in his career. When he played with Benevento in Serie A, Slovenian media outlet Siol.net reported on the presence of 15 foreigners in that team. Lapadula was the only one in Serie A alongside now-Inter goalkeeper Alex Cordaz.