Lucerne coach Mario Frick can't hide how happy he is about the signing of ex-FCZ junior Matteo di Giusto in the home game. "He's the reason I've been storming for a long time," he says.
A week ago, FC Lucerne shot GC out of the stadium with a score of 6:0. The really big figure? The small Matteo di Giusto (168 centimeters). One assist, two goals. One of them after a wonderful overhead kick.
Di Giusto, who arrived at the last minute this season from FC Winterthur, hardly needed any time to get going in central Switzerland anyway. With 10 goals, the 25-year-old ranks second behind Xherdan Shaqiri.
Frick: "I've been striker for a long time because of Di Giusto"
One of the main reasons why the magic foot switched to FCL is coach Mario Frick. The Liechtenstein native was already his coach at FC Vaduz, where Di Giusto went in the summer of 2020 after failing to establish himself at FCZ.
Frick has to smile when he is asked about Di Giusto during the home game. "If I'm honest, I have to say that I'd already been making representations to Remo (sporting director Meyer, editor's note) about Matteo for a long time. It just never happened before ..."
Meyer then surprised him shortly before the start of the season. "When I saw the names of Di Giusto and Julian von Moos on Remo's poster with the shadow team for the new season, my week was saved. I'm super happy that the two players are now with us."
He could not assert himself at FCZ
It's a mystery why FCZ didn't go for him. Di Giusto was one of the most talented young players at FCZ from U16 to U21, and he proved several times that he is more than just an above-average Super League footballer, at the latest in his three years at FC Winterthur.
That's fine with Lucerne and Frick. It would come as no surprise if the former FCZ jewel were to set up or score goals himself against Zurich today (18:00 live on blue Sport), as he did a week ago against GC.
