Franco Vazquez was up to his old tricks again on Saturday as Palermo beat Lega Pro side Lumezzane, 4-0.
It wasn’t the goals that grabbed the attention of everyone, nor even the showing – even if it was very much a positive. Rather, it was a particular play where Vazquez managed to embarrass a midfielder (who won’t be named) twice by tunnels (or, “nutmegs”) and then performed a third on a hapless defender. This video could be watched on loop for hours, days, even weeks without getting tiresome.
For those Palermo faithful who’ve seen Vazquez perform at a high level over the past year and a half, this has become second nature. After all, El Mudo is arguably the best in Italy at three things: performing tunnels, hitting the post and setting up his now-departed teammate and best friend Paulo Dybala. Despite the departure of Dybala to Juventus, Vazquez is primed to carve out an even bigger role for the Rosanero this season. He’s the cornerstone of Iachini’s Palermo and his vision and skill-set is a complement to any striking partner matched up with him.
It’s been a meteoric trajectory for the man who had his bags packed and ready to return home to Argentina. Iachini’s intuition and subsequent plea to make Vazquez stay turned El Mudo from cast-off to first team regular to stardom and a spot on the Italian national team. What a complete 180 in such a short time span. Here’s to many more tricks, flicks, posts and goals for Franco in the 2015-16 season.
More videos of Franco and the Vazquez Victims:
