"The 16-year-old was brought off the bench to make his club debut in the 80th minute of Roma's Italian Cup clash against Torino, and scored with his first touch for the Serie A side. He calmly rose to head the ball past Torino goalkeeper Alberto Paleari to level the scores at 2-2 in the 81st minute of their round-of-16 match on Tuesday (Wednesday AEDT)."
"I'm happy about these very young players: one is 16 years old and it's an important process for him, Gasperini said. He [Arena] is certainly a player who has a great competitive drive, despite his young age. He has a lot of energy to offer and he's not afraid to put himself out there. He's already playing for national youth teams."
"Arena, who was born in Sydney, has dual citizenship and has represented both Australia and Italy at youth international level. After fine-tuning his skills as a youngster with A-League Men side Western Sydney Wanderers, Arena made the big move to join Italian club Pescara. He made his senior and professional debut with Pescara last year in a 4-1 Serie C win over Lucchese, scoring the side's fourth goal. At 16 years and 25 days old, he became the first 2009-born player to score in professional football in Italy, and also the youngest ever goalscorer for Pescara."
Antonio Arena, born in Sydney with dual Australian-Italian citizenship, came on as an 80th-minute substitute for Roma and headed home with his first touch in the 81st minute to level the Italian Cup tie 2-2. Torino later won 3-2 after a 90th-minute goal. Arena progressed from Western Sydney Wanderers to Pescara, where he made his senior debut and became the youngest 2009-born goalscorer in Italian professional football and Pescara's youngest scorer. Arena has represented both Australia and Italy at youth level and signed for Roma in July 2025, with club coaching praise for his energy and competitive drive.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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