Romano Floriani Mussolini, the great-grandson of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini, came off the bench and helped Cremonese defeat Sassuolo 3-2 in their Serie A debut on Friday.
The 22-year-old, who was substituted eight minutes before the end, triggered the penalty kick on which Manuel de Luca scored the winning goal for the newly promoted team. Cremonese now top the Serie A table with two wins from two games.
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The right-back, who is on loan from Lazio, was an unused substitute in Cremonese’s 2-1 win over AC Milan in the Serie A opener last week.
“Too many things happened in too short a time, I don’t think I’ll ever forget this night because I’ve always dreamed of making my debut in Serie A,” said Floriani Mussolini.
“My goal was to make a difference, and I’m glad I was able to do that.”
Floriani Mussolini wears shirt number 22 in Cremonese and has the name “Romano” on the back of the shirt.
He came up through the ranks at Lazio, but never got playing time in the Italian top division for the Biancocelesti.
He was loaned to third-division club Pescara in the 2023-24 season and to Juve Stabia in the second division during the 2024-25 season.
After his winning goal against Cesena last December, some reports claimed that Juve Stabia supporters celebrated the goal with fascistic greetings – a claim the club firmly rejected.
When he joined Cremonese this summer, Floriani Mussolini said he was “here to play football,” adding, “My surname bothers other people more than me.”
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Benito Mussolini founded the National Fascist Party in Italy and led the country from 1922 until his overthrow in 1943. He allied himself with Adolf Hitler during World War II, and was captured and killed in 1945.
