Little-big players grow up. The triplet twins Mascia Gabriele, Raffaele and Michele (the names are the same as the Archangels) have been playing for this year in the historic club of Monserrato, that La Salle which boasts a sporting tradition of over sixty years.

They never split up and, before joining the club of president Simone Murgia and the new sporting director Walter Stevelli, they played in another Cagliaritan club where there were even eight pairs of twins. The three are inseparable, regardless of their roles on the pitch: Raffaele is a prolific goalscorer, Michele a whimsical midfielder and the agile Gabriele is a full-back with an educated left foot. They are 15 years old.

The new company

From this year the three boys (Michele and Raffaele, homozygous twins, will soon catch the meter and 85, while the "little" Gabriele is already one meter and 78) have had to break a tradition that saw them inseparable since they were children in the fields tennis, football and soccer, trained by the brothers Michela and Fabrizio Meloni in Su Planu. Coach Daniele Andreini, coach of the Allievi, loves the perennial smile of the three boys, the uncommon manners and never missing training sessions. And still today he doesn't hesitate to try them even in defensive roles to take advantage of their size. The twins, born on February 15, 2007, are struggling in their new roles but will soon be able to understand what the main road will be.


Juventus sympathies and the Portuguese idol

Supporters of Juve and above all of Ronaldo, they cheered on Portugal at the World Cup in Qatar, even if their idol was ousted by the surprising revelation Morocco. But - they say - «all three of us support Cagliari». «I like the red and blue colors – declares Michele -: they represent passion and the desire to reach higher and more ambitious goals. However, the climb to Serie A seems really difficult to us».

Naturally, the black and white hand was played by father Giancarlo . «The important thing is that they grow well and have fun, he says. Football must be fun, champions and symbolic teams can only increase the passion of all the boys in the world».

Mamma Ritalba, the gynecologist-soccer player

In the stands he doesn't miss training or matches and follows them like a shadow. Behind the Mascia triplets there could only be the courage and self-sacrifice of a mother like Ritalba Sau who left her crowded gynecologist's clinic to devote herself to her beloved babies (at birth they weighed no more than a kilo). Not renouncing the beloved profession of doctor who was able to reconcile in that of the Sinnai Outpatient Clinic. And the results have arrived for the very sporty mother who played in Nuoro and in other clubs as a youngster, where she was also a manager.

«I am proud and satisfied with them, she tells us from the cold and windy bleachers of the field. As soon as they were born, it was a tough few months, with many anxieties about their complete development. And now I admire them as they run on the field and think about the miracle of life and the enormous progress made by science. A message to all parents not to despair of the difficulties of existence.

Brother Luigi beats mother Sau 4-3

There is also the derby in the family, in terms of twins, which evokes a certain Italy-Germany 4 to 3. Yes, because at the birth of triplets of Ritalba, his brother Luigi saw fit to give birth to 4 twins, albeit in two separate births. So that each family will be able to keep the banner of its primacy high: there are 4 of us, yes, but the 3 of us were all born together.

Dreams


There is no shortage of aspirations. And you hear some good ones, in addition to the inevitable dream of dreams: I'll be a footballer when I grow up. Then, digging, Gabriele's sympathy for Greenpeace emerges. But also a lover of English trap music. As for the other two, Raffaele has a knack for business, so much so that he imagines himself a very busy real estate agent. Michele would like to become a good cook and loves travelling. At 15, dreams are just waiting to come true.

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