Italian soccer is no place for the faint-hearted - especially a woman - yet Carolina Morace has been there, done that, daring to challenge a male-dominated sport in a country where (men's) soccer bows only to religion.
Morace, who arrived in Auckland yesterday ahead of the Fifa-promoted Under-17World Cup Ambassador Tour, first kicked a ball as a 9-year-old. Within five years she played the first of a record 153 games for the Italian national side, scoring 105 goals - only Elisabetta Vignotto (107) has scored more.
As a professional she was even more prodigious, scoring 478 goals in 15 seasons (with eight clubs) during which time she was part of 12 league championship-winning teams. During her reign, Morace was regarded as the Michael Jordan of Italian women's football.
She played in six European championships reaching the final twice but without success.
More recently, in European qualifying for the inaugural Fifa Under-17 Women's World Cup which kicks off at North Harbour Stadium on October 28, Italy fell at the first hurdle.
Morace follows US star Brandi Chastain in coming to Auckland to promote both the Fifa tournament and the women's game here.
Her credentials are impressive. Following her playing days Morace became the Italian national women's coach.
Yet, it was her foray into the men's game which captured most publicity.
Appointed as coach of Serie C1 club AS Viterbese, Morace was welcomed by the fans but quit after finding media pressure and the interference of the club's president overpowering.
Away from the football field, she found time to qualify as a lawyer and these days juggles her time between lecturing at university in Rome and her highly-regarded role as an analyst of the men's game for Italian television including her work during Euro 2008.
Morace will be joined on the Ambassador Tour by Oceania Player of the Century Wynton Rufer and former head of women's football at New Zealand Football Michele Cox.
At a Fifa-sponsored coaching seminar, the trio will work with, among others, two representatives from all Oceania nations and the seven New Zealand Federations.
Morace will attend the Under-17 opening match between New Zealand and Canada at North Harbour Stadium before returning to Italy.
