Jermain Defoe’s fantastic form for Sunderland is drawing comparisons to a former legend over in Italy.
There has been a lot said about the marvel that is Jermain Defoe in recent months, and rightly so. The Englishman seems to be getting better with age and at 34, he has nearly a one in two strikes which is just unthinkable.
Interestingly, it also reminds some people of another aging legend from Italy’s past – Antonio Di Natale.
Di Natale was similar to Defoe in many ways, being smaller than the average forward while also maintaining phenomenal finishing power.
Both men seem to thrive on being undervalued and underappreciated in the media, as Di Natale continued to score deep into the later stages of his career much like Defoe.
It was not like Udinese were one of the best teams in the league, either.
For the 12 years Di Natale spent at the club the majority of accolades that came his way were individual as opposed to coming from the team’s success. Much like Defoe, who seems to be dragging the Black Cats kicking and screaming towards an attempt at survival.
Neither man was ever really appreciated by their national sides as much as they should have been either.
Sure they featured in tournaments, but they were never deemed to be the center of the operation for either Italy or England, which was often down to the star power of the names ahead of them.
Either way, both men are sure to go down in history as two of the most underrated and successful strikers of all time.
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