Young Cacace the Phoenix’s quiet achiever
Antonio Cacace didn’t even know that his son had been training with Wellington Phoenix first team, when he called from the airport to say he was catching a plane to Sydney to make his A-League debut.
‘‘I said ‘excuse me?’ He’s quiet, you know, he doesn’t talk much so I said ‘what do you mean you’re going to Sydney?’
‘‘And he told me he had been training with the first team and had been asked to go,’’ Antonio said.
‘‘I asked how long he had been training with the first team, and he said ‘six weeks’. I didn’t even know.’’
Liberato Cacace made his debut in a 4-0 loss against Sydney FC the next day. He was brought on with 36 minutes to go. He was just 17.
Antonio has supported the club from its inception and said it was an incredibly proud moment to watch his boy, who was born in Wellington, turn out for the Phoenix at such a young age.
He was nervous watching from the TV but said the stress eased following Liberato’s first touch.
‘‘After his name was called, our house turned on fire,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s when I discovered that my humble, quiet and relaxed wife turned into a different woman. She was jumping up and down and screaming. In that game, as soon as he touched the ball, there was a long pass and he stopped the ball, it was like he had glue on his boots.’’
The black alternative playing shirt he wore on debut can be found hanging on display in Antonio’s restaurant, La Bella Italia, in Petone.
‘‘It’s his debut shirt. It’s a very important shirt,’’ he said.
After earning himself a two-year professional contract on the back of a promising seven-game spell at the end of last season, Liberato has now made the left fullback spot his own. He has started 17 of a possible 19 games this campaign, and the only matches he missed, in rounds four and five, were due to a clash with his NCEA exams.
Liberato has taken his game to another level in recent weeks, now that he has finished secondary school and no longer has to juggle training and study. He produced his best performance in last week’s 1-1 draw with Melbourne Victory and left opposition players, including Japanese star Keisuke Honda, trailing in his wake during a marauding second half run.
‘‘That’s him when he was young too. He’d just go zoom. He’s very strong and he’s hard to knock off the ball. He protects the ball very well. When he starts his runs he’s got good speed and he’s got more confidence going forward. There’s more to come I think.
‘‘I said to him ‘have you worked out what type of celebration you’re going to have when you score? But he said ‘no papa, no celebration’.’’
Although the understated Liberato has always dreamed of becoming a professional football player – as child he would sleep in a full Italian kit with a football tucked under his arms – Antonio said the moment when he truly realised his son had the potential to make a career out of the game occurred when he was scouted by Ernie Merrick while playing for Capital Football at an age-group tournament in Upper Hutt.
From there he was invited to join the Phoenix academy and quickly progressed through to the first team after just a couple of seasons.