Calcio Estate 2024: all the award nominees

Just over a week remains until the 2024 edition of Calcio Estate. The traditional summer event organised by the FSGC will take place on Friday 19 July 2024 in the Press Room of the San Marino Stadium, when the best performers from last season will be honoured. The most coveted award will naturally be the "Pallone di Cristallo", reserved for the best Sammarinese or resident player. The nominees are Alessandro Golinucci (Virtus), Samuel Pancotti (Folgore) and Filippo Berardi (last season at Cosmos). Eyes will also be on the "Trofeo Koppe", for the best "foreign" player (non-Sammarinese by passport and non-resident in the Republic). Here the race is between Imre Badalassi (last season at Tre Penne, now at Cosmos), Ivan Buonocunto (Virtus) and Aziz Niang (standout performer for Fiorentino and La Fiorita). There will also be an award for the best football coach of last season. Competing for the "Panchina d'Oro" are Luigi Bizzotto (Virtus), Thomas Manfredini (La Fiorita) and Marco Tognacci (San Giovanni). The prizes for the season’s top scorers and assist providers are already decided, numbers in hand. The "Bombardino d'Oro" for the Campionato Sammarinese will go to Imre Badalassi (28 goals in the regular season and 2 in the play-offs for the former Tre Penne striker), while the Coppa Titano award will go to Aziz Niang (7 goals between Fiorentino and La Fiorita). There will be an ex aequo for the "Assist-Man" award: with 11 decisive passes each, Ivan Buonocunto (Virtus) and Luca Righini (Tre Penne) will both receive the honour. Still to be decided are the two awards for the "Best Goal" and "Best Save": the voting is still open on the FSGC.sm website in the dedicated section, where every Sammarinese football fan can choose their favourite piece of skill from the 30 selected (one for each matchday of the Campionato Sammarinese regular season). Alongside football, Sammarinese futsal will also take centre stage. There are three nominees for "Futsal Best Player" which, as the name suggests, will go to the best player of the season: Danilo Busignani (Fiorentino), Elia Pasqualini (Folgore) and Matteo Moretti (Murata). As in football, futsal will also recognise the best coach: for the "Panchina d'Oro Futsal" the candidates are Claudio Zonzini (Folgore), Roberto Levani (Juvenes-Dogana) and Matteo Michelotti (last season at Fiorentino, now the new Virtus head coach). There will also be room for the "Futsal Talent" award, designed to highlight the best Under-23 prospect in the game: the nominees are Matteo Chezzi (Folgore), Jacopo Pazzini (San Marino Academy) and William Cavalli (Juvenes-Dogana). The name of the futsal "Bombardino d'Oro" is already known: with 82 goals over the season (76 in the league and 6 in the cup) for Fiorentino, Danilo Busignani confirms the titles he has claimed in each of the past two years. As in every edition, there will also be space for the women’s sector of the San Marino Academy. The "Top Woman" award, for the best player of the Women’s First Team, will be contested by Giulia Limardi, Martina Tamburini and Raffaella Barbieri. For the "Top Girl" award, which will go to the best young player, the nominees are Elisa Terenzi, Anna Benedettini and Arianna Forcellini (all three key figures both for their club and for San Marino’s Experimental Women’s Under-16 National Team). Three contenders are also in the running for the "San Marino Academy Best Coach" award, which is open to the men’s sector as well: Giacomo Piva (SMA Under-17 and San Marino Women’s Under-16 National Team), Fabio Baschetti (Giovanissimi Provinciali) and Matteo Cecchetti (San Marino Academy Under-22 and San Marino Under-21 National Team). The "Golden Boy" award will also be presented, which as every year will go to the best Sammarinese Under-23 player. The nominees are Simone Giocondi (San Marino Academy Under-22), Alessandro Tosi (who played last season for Victor San Marino) and Samuele Zannoni (who spent last season at Torconca). It will not be only players and coaches: there will also be honours for club directors and staff from Sammarinese sides. The Lifetime Achievement Oscar will go to a long-serving figure within clubs on the Titano, while the "Premio Comunicazione" (Communication Award) is dedicated to journalists and media professionals. During the evening, as every year, there will also be awards for the refereeing sector: in cooperation with A.S.A., there will be prizes for the best football referee of last season ("Fischietto d'Oro" – Golden Whistle) and the best assistant ("Bandierina d'Oro" – Golden Flag), as well as the best futsal match official ("Fischietto d'Oro Futsal"). Finally, we remind you that at the end of the event – for the first time alongside Calcio Estate – the draws for the Campionato Sammarinese and the Coppa Titano bracket will also take place, officially opening the 2024-25 season.

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