The Daily Drool: Shunsuke Nakamura

Attacking midfielder Shunsuke currently plays for Yokohama F. Marinos, the team where he made his professional debut in 1997. In between, he has played in Italy (Reggina), Scotland (Celtic) and Spain (Espanyol). He has represented Japan at the U20, U23 and senior levels.

The Daily Drool: Përparim Hetemaj

Midfielder Përparim plays for Serie A side Chievo. He has represented Finland at the U21 and senior levels. His younger brother Mehmet plays for Serie B side Reggina as a center back and has also played on the Finnish National Team.

 

Updated: Rest In Peace: Piermario Morosini

Horrible news: Livorno midfielder (on loan from Udinese) Piermario Morosini collapsed during a match with Pescara. He never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. He was 25. For everything that went right with Fabrice Muamba’s resuscitation attempts, it seems the opposite happened in this case (read the article for details).  It is an even more tragic story when you learn a bit about his personal life. Piermario was orphaned and had two disabled brothers, one of whom passed away last year. It sounds like so much sadness in a such a short life. In his career, Piermario played for, in addition to the previously mentioned teams, Vicenza, Bologna, Reggina and Padova. He represented Italy at the U17, U18, U19, U20 and U21 levels. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, teammates and those who loved him. Just heartbreaking.

Updated: This story gives more details – the earlier report of two brothers was incorrect. He is survived by an older sister.

– Lozil

The Daily Drool: Andrea Pirlo

Fierce midfielder Andrea has had a long and storied career. He began with Brescia (1995-1998) then went to Inter Milan (from 1998-2001 including loan stints with Reggina and Brescia) but the bulk of his career has been with AC Milan (2001-2011). During that time, he won 2 Scudetto, 2 Champions League titles, 2 UEFA Super Cups and 1 Italian Cup. After this season, his contract was not renewed and Juventus snapped him up. I’m really looking forward to seeing him play with them this summer.  He played with the Italian U21 squad (1998-2002) captaining them on their 2000 European Championship. He played on the Italian Olympic team (2000-2004) taking home a bronze in 2004. He has been a member of the Italian senior national team since 2002 and was a member of their World Cup winning side in 2006.