Anthony Boretto
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Anthony Boretto | ||
| Year of birth | 1993 | ||
| Place of birth | Sancrus, Vegno | ||
| Playing position | Striker | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club |  Northcliff United | ||
| Number | 9 | ||
| Senior career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls)* |
| 2022 |  Sancrus FC | 20 | (14) |
| 2022–23 | Stonehall Hotspur | 38 | (23) |
| 2023– | Northcliff United | ||
| International career | |||
| 2022– | Vegno | 26 | (22) |
| * Appearances (Goals) Player has received at least one call-up for any emboldened national teams | |||
Anthony Boretto is a Vegnese professional footballer who plays as a striker for Super League Football club Northcliff United and the Vegno national team.
He is the current top national goalscorer with 23 goals in 27 appearances and was also the highest paid vegnese footballer in history with his move from Stonehall Hotspur to Northcliff United for 27 Cr.
He is nicknamed Il Tacchino (The Turkey). The nickname comes from one of his close childhood friend, who jokingly suggested he celebrates his goals by mimicking a turkey's comb with an open hand to his forehead.
Personal life
Boretto married the Vegnese actress Sonia Franchini. They have a dog called Jack and three sons: Federico, Salvatore and Jessica.
Style of play
Boretto is a quick, physical, and prolific striker, who has a strong and powerful shot with either foot. He is strong in aerial duels, and stands out for his acceleration, tactical intelligence, positioning, work-rate, and eye for goal, which, along with his speed, allows him to lose his markers by making attacking runs into the penalty area.
Although he is primarily deployed as an out-and-out striker or centre-forward, he is also capable of playing as a second striker, due to his ability to hold up the ball with his back to goal and link-up with teammates, in addition to scoring goals himself
Club Career
Sancrus F.C.
Boretto signed his first professional contract with Sancrus FC, his hometown team. He chose to wear the number 10 shirt.
He scored his first goal in the first home game of the 2022 Campionato Vegnese di Calcio against F.C. Cossa Perfection, guaranteeing the first victory for the team. Boretto did even better the following week, scoring a brace in the match Sancrus won against AS Virtus Glovetese. He scored for the third consecutive time with a late penalty against Atletico Mhazar, sealing the tie.
Boretto immediately became the idol of local fans thanks to his excellent performances in the first matches of the season.
He ended his season with 14 goals in 20 appearences, winning the title of top scorer in both league and cup. He also scored one of the decisive goals during the penalty shoot-outs of the Bonfire Cup second leg final won against Glovetese before leaving the club.
Stonehall Hotspur
On 20 June 2022, Stonehall Hotspur announced the signing of Boretto for Cr 6 million. He made his debut with the Stonehall team already on the first day of the new SLF season, with the coach Agostino Conti who immediately inserts him on a permanent basis in his training, given the previous ones spent together in the Vegno national football team, arriving at the end of the championship playing all 38 league games. In the 2022-23 SLF in the first part of the season, despite the numerous goals from Boretto, the team slightly disappoints expectations, remaining permanently out of the FMF and Aefa Champions' League qualifying area, only to then, in the last few matchdays, manage to grab fifth place, the last useful for a direct qualification to the group stage of the AEFA Champions' League.
Boretto ended his first season in the SLF with 38 league appearances and 23 goals scored.
Northcliff United
In August 2023 he moved to Northcliff United for 27 Cr, becoming the highest paid vegnese footballer in history. He starts the new season with the Reds shirt on a high, starting the first match of the season, the 2023 Florian Super Cup, in which he also scores his first goal with the Northcliff United shirt in the 81st minute. Thus he won his first trophy, the Florian Super Cup, with the new team, beating Barkham FC 3-0.
If the team encountered some difficulties in the championship, failing to fight for the title in the first half of the season, in the continental cups the situation was very different, where the contribution of the striker from Vegno was clear.
In the FMF Champions' League Boretto started all six group matches, scoring 6 goals, including a hat-trick against Aeland Belaov FC and a brace against Etourney FC. The team qualified with full points as first in the group and Boretto contributed to the passage to the semi-finals thanks to another 3 goals in the direct elimination phase: the first goal in the 3-0 against Kealb FC and a decisive brace for the passage to the next round, in the quarterfinals against Kateki Blavisen FK.
International Career
In April 2022, Boretto was included in Vegno's squad for 2022 Krasnovlac Tri-Nations Series by manager Agostino Conti. He scored a brace in his debut against Pacary[1], becoming the first goalscorer of the national team on the day of the team's international debut, also earning the title of man of the match. He repeated himself six days later, scoring another brace in the final winning match against Krasnovlac and establishing himself as the top scorer of the competition, showing off his talent on the international stage.
Even after the arrival of Fortunato Bongiovanni as manager of the national team, Boretto remains one of the team's staples, starting almost all the official matches.
In fact, he contributes significantly to the qualification of the national team for the 2023 FMF World Cup, thanks to his 8 goals scored in the qualifications, which allow the team to rank first in Group A and therefore obtain, for the first time in history, direct qualification for the 2023 FMF World Cup in Mercury.
He was later included in the 23-man squad for the World Cup, where he starred in all of Vegno's matches. During the groups he scored 3 goals: one on his debut in the competition against Calbion and his first brace in the FMF World Cup against Floria, in the extraordinary 4-2 victory against the reigning world champions. Contributes in an important way to all matches guaranteeing Vegno the passage of the round to the play-offs as runner-up in the group with 8 points.
During the knockout stage he scored his second brace of the tournament against Tiana, ensuring the team qualification for the quarter-finals for the first time and their first participation in the World Cup. He also scored in Vegno's last match at the World Cup, the quarter-finals against Phinbella, which saw them however lose 2-1 and be eliminated from the tournament.
He closes his first international competition with Vegno with 6 goals that make him one of the best strikers in the tournament, also being included in the team of the tournament.
Career Statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sancrus FC | 2022 | Lega A Vegnese | 14 | 11 | 6 | 3 | – | – | 20 | 14 | ||
| Stonehall Hotspur | 2022–23 | Super League Football | 38 | 23 | – | – | 38 | 23 | ||||
| Northcliff United | 2023–24 | Super League Football | 10 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 10 | ||||
| Career total | 52 | 34 | 6 | 3 | 10 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 69 | 47 | ||
Appearances and goals in the national team
Honours
Sancrus
Vegno
Individual
- Maillot d'Or: 2023
- Lega A Golden Boot: 2022 (11 goals)
- Bonfire Cup Top Scorer: 2022 (3 goals)
References
- ^ "Anthony Boretto fires double as Vegno secure first international win", 20 April 2022.
