Francesco Camarda
Francesco Camarda (born 10 March 2008) is an Italian footballer who plays as a forward for Italian club AC Milan U19. Early life Camarda was born in Milan, Italy. As a child he also took an interest in kickboxing. Club career Camarda started his career with G.S.D Afforese, a football school in Milan. During his time with Afforese, he trained with the academy of professional side AC Milan, and went on to join the club permanently in 2015, after just over a year with Afforese. In his first training session with AC Milan, he was deployed as a defender, but after continually dribbling through the opposition teams and scoring, he was moved up front to play as a striker. During his time in the academy of AC Milan, Camarda established himself as a prolific goal-scorer; at an under-9 tournament in Vienna, Austria, he was taken off due to injury with his side 2–0 down to German opposition Bayern Munich. He asked his coach to return to the field, and went on to score two goals and provide an assist in the eventual 3–2 win. His prolific form continued as he progressed through the academy, and he went on to score twenty-two goals in twenty-four games for AC Milan's under-15 side, leading them to the under-15 Scudetto title. Eventually, his goal-scoring feats drew the attention of international media, and he was lauded for having scored 485 goals in only 89 matches for AC Milan's academy, an average of 5.45 goals per game. He trained with AC Milan's under-19 side at the age of fourteen, and scored two goals for the side in a friendly win against Eccellenza team Solbiatese. Camarda made his UEFA Youth League debut against Newcastle United on 19 September 2023, scoring a brace in a 4–0 victory. These goals made Camarda the second-youngest player to score a brace in the tournament and the youngest-ever Italian goalscorer at , breaking Fabrizio Caligara's record of . International career Camarda has represented Italy at under-15, under-16, and under-17 level. References External links 2008 births Living people Footballers from Milan Italian men's footballers Men's association football forwards AC Milan players Italy men's youth international footballers