Adriano Bertaccini has had a great start to the season with STVV. Born and trained in Charleroi, he did not receive an offer from Sporting at the time.
The problem in Charleroi, or at least one of the problems, is obvious: the Zèbres lack a striker capable of scoring 15 to 20 goals over a season – and even 10, in truth. However, a native of the Black Country seems well on his way to doing it under another jersey: Adriano Bertaccini (24 years old), already author of 8 goals in 10 Pro Leage matches with Sint-Truiden.
Bertaccini’s name comes up very often on the discussion forums of Carole supporters, frustrated that a “local guy” has not come to Mambourg, where he was trained. “At the time, Charleroi went down to D2 and that impacted the youth teams, so I left for Liège,” he explains on the RTBF Grill on this subject.
Bertaccini then went through several youth teams, and ironically, it was far from Charleroi that he met… Felice Mazzù, his current coach. “He gave everyone here confidence, he also taught me to calm down because I was a bit excited,” admits the Carolo striker. “Here, everyone likes Felice: he’s a great coach, we see that he is the most experienced in D1A.”
STVV arrived at the last minute, not Charleroi
Bertaccini’s journey has not always been easy: there have sometimes been flashbacks, like when he signed in Austrian D2, then had to return to D1 Amateurs in Belgium towards Thes Sport. There, he started again and signed with FC Liège. “But even then, I was no longer sure of my ability to break through to the pros. I had completely lost confidence in myself,” he reveals.
After an excellent 2023-2024 half-season in Liège, he signed in D1A during the winter transfer window. “I didn’t have an offer until the end of the transfer window, except for Zulte Waregem. Then I signed for Sint-Truiden on the last day of the transfer window.” Sporting Charleroi, therefore, has never positioned itself on this native of the country who, since then, has established himself as one of the foxes of our championship. What to have regrets about?
