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Napoli's unsung heroes also deserving of title glory / Photo: Marco BERTORELLO - AFP/File
Napoli's unsung heroes also deserving of title glory
While Victor Osimhen and Khvicha Kvaratskhelia have stolen the show this season, Napoli's title triumph has been a team effort, spearheaded by their two attacking stars but backed up by diligent lesser names capable nonetheless of playing sparkling football.
Here AFP Sport looks at some of the more unsung heroes of Napoli's first Scudetto since 1990:
Giovanni Di Lorenzo
Euro 2020 champion with Italy, a Knight of the Italian Republic and now Serie A winner with Napoli, captain Di Lorenzo's success came relatively late in his football career after climbing from the lower reaches of the game to its very summit.
In 2017 Di Lorenzo, who will turn 30 in August, was playing with Matera, a team on the sole of the Italian boot and firmly in the boondocks of third-tier Serie C.
Five years later and he has started every Serie A and Champions League match in a remarkable season for Italy's best team, netting four times and providing six assists from right-back.
Kim Min-jae
Derided by a section of Napoli's support when he was signed to replace adopted Neapolitan Kalidou Koulibaly, South Korea's Kim is now a fan favourite after a superb debut season in Italy.
Napoli's defence is the best in Serie A and that is in large part down to the way Kim slotted in after Koulibaly left for Chelsea.
The 26-year-old has missed just one match the whole league campaign, and Napoli fans now greet his every tackle or header with staccato cries of "Kim, Kim, Kim".
Andre-Frank Zambo Anguissa
Cameroon midfielder Anguissa is indispensible in the Napoli midfield, providing quick ball movement and progression up the field in a trio alongside Piotr Zielinski and Stanislav Lobotka.
Anguissa is set to win the first major trophy of his career at the age of 27 after blossoming under coach Luciano Spalletti and finding a spiritual home in Naples after a tough time at Fulham.
In February he spoke to BeIN Sports of "rediscovering the joy of playing" at Napoli.
"Living in Naples is something that's really incredible, like the start of a dream."
Giovanni Simeone
Argentina's Simeone has spent most of the season as little more than relief from the bench for Osimhen, but his role as super-sub has been a big part to Napoli's outstanding season.
The 27-year-old was one of three arrivals with the season already under way in August, alongside Tanguy Ndombele and Giacomo Raspadori, and he has struck some crucial goals from the bench.
It was his header which earned Napoli the dramatic 2-1 win at AC Milan which officially announced their title bid, and after a glut of goals while Osimhen was injured in the autumn then he clattered in the last-gasp winner against fierce rivals Roma in January -- a big moment in Napoli's season.
Piotr Zielinski
When Giacomo Raspadori rammed in his stoppage-time winner at Juventus last month, metronomic midfielder Zielinski slowly flopped to the floor in a mixture of joy and relief in the knowledge that the title was finally coming to Naples.
Alongside Mario Rui, Zielinski is one of only two veterans of Napoli's disappointment in 2018, when after beating leaders Juve in Turin to go one point behind with four games remaining they fell away.
Zielinski had only just watched the usually clinical Osimhen waste his fourth good opportunity of the match, this time from his pass, when he saw Raspadori win the match and end an title odyssey of which he has been a part since 2016.
T.Barbieri--INP
