Late Bloomer: The Dario Hübner Story

Hello readers, this is post is actually not my work, it’s a contribution from a person that some of you may be familiar with: Steven, who used to write for the Palermo Offside. His story is about one of his favorite players, Dario “The Bison” Hübner, probably one of the most underrated strikers in calcio in the mid to late 90’s and early 2000’s. I remember Hübner very well, especially when he was at Brescia and formed a pretty formidable strike pairing with Roberto Baggio. I also remember when at Piacenza he finished as joint-capocannoniere with David Trezeguet in the 2001/2002 season, and there was even a small media push for Trapattoni to bring him to the World Cup in Korea and Japan. Trapattoni’s excuse was “Hübner is a great player but is too old to handle a competition where you have to play every 3 days.” That was nonsense if you ask me. Anyway, here is Steven’s post, and if anyone else out there want’s to write a contribution to be posted here on the Italy Offside, feel free to shoot me an e-mail or ask me on twitter.

I was around 15 when I really started following Serie A, meaning that some of the legends of the 90’s were close to retirement. Sure, I had seen a lot of Serie A during the nineties, but that was mostly from a program on the Dutch television that compiled the highlights of Serie A and La Liga every Sunday evening. I was one of the only kids at school that wasn’t a big Anderlecht or Club Bruges-fan, but I knew every player from Parma’s roster and could tell you how good Abel Balbo and Batistuta were. And then, suddenly, Belgian payTV started broadcasting Serie A. Suddenly, I could see guys like Marco Delvecchio and Nestor Sensini play every week. Baggio taking a last stand at Brescia? I saw it. But there was one other player that really gave my love for Serie A a boost: Dario Hübner.

Who is Dario Hübner, you might ask? Well, Hübner was one of those late bloomers that only rose to the stage after their thirties. Bisonte, as he was lovingly called, was a Friulano who started his career at the age of 20 at lowly Pievigina in Interregionale, the current Serie D. Contradictory to popular belief, Hübner was not of German descent but an Italian through and through. After one season at Pievigina, in which he scored 10 goals in 25 matches, he took a step up and got a taste of Serie C2 with Fano and Pergocrema. Fano got promoted to C1 and in 1992 Hübner got his first prize: the Capocannoniere Title in Serie C. Reasons enough for Serie B team Cesena to take a gamble on The Bison, and four years later Hübner notched up his second scoring title, this time in Serie B. After five years with the Seahorses, the counter was at 74 goals in 166 matches. Not bad for a guy without experience in big teams. Too bad for Hübner, Cesena hadn’t the finances to give him the necessary support in the middle and up front to become a real force in Serie B. But there was hope…

After five years at Cesena, newly promoted Brescia gave Hübner his first shot at top-level football. The Rondinelle wanted a striker that was almost never injured and had an amazing physique. And so Dario Hübner was welcomed in Serie A at the ripe age of 30 years old. Nobody really believed in the man from Trieste, but he proved them wrong with 16 goals in his first season. His first goal in Serie A was in his debut game against Inter, where one Ronaldo also played his first game. In the end, it was not enough to save Brescia, and they were relegated at the end of the season. Two more years in B and one in A with Brescia saw his scoring record improve to over one goal every two matches, only for Hübner to be placed on the transfer list at the end of the season. No more striker-duo of Baggio-Hübner, and in Serie A nobody was looking for him. Deemed too old by Inter (the club of his dreams), Hellas and Torino, among others, it looked like Bisone was destined to remain in the lower leagues. But he had attracted the attention of Piacenza, another young team on the rise. With players like Enzo Maresca, Amauri and Sergio Volpi and under the guidance of Walter Novellino, Piacenza was an exciting team. And it showed. In his first season with the biancorossi, Hübner won his third and last Capocannoniere trophy: 24 goals over the season. Too bad he had to share it with Juve’s Trezeguet, but by doing this, he became the first player ever to win this title in Serie C1, B and A. The only other player that has accomplished this is Igor Protti, but his accomplishments took one year longer.

After another 1-goal-for-two-games at Piacenza, Hübner’s time on top of the calcio-pyramid was up. Stops at Ancona and Perugia were unsuccessful and he took two steps down, helping C1-team Mantova getting promoted to Serie B at the end of the 2004-2005 season. Already 38 by then, Hübner couldn’t say goodbye to calcio and continued his voyage down the professional ladder. Back to where it all began, Serie D, at Chiari and Rodengo Saiano, Eccelenza at Orsa Corte Franca (where he had more goals than games played in his last two seasons combined) and one amazing season in Prima Divisione at Castelmella, where he scored 16 in 14 games. At the age of 44, Hübner has stated that this season, at Cavenago D’Adda in Promozione, will be his last. As of the beginning of January, his tally read 336 goals at 14 different teams. He could’ve won more silverware, could’ve played for Milan or Roma if they had been able to meet Cesena’s demands for young players in return, and could’ve been called up to the national team if he hadn’t been 30 when he first tasted Serie A. But in the end, Dario Hübner is a happy man. Or as he stated himself: ‘Fumo, corro poco, ma gioco ancora’ (I smoke, run very little, but I still play).

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Category: Player Profiles, Players