BOLOGNA – One great achievement after another. Gianluca Pagliuca started gathering them after leaving Bologna in 1985. He was smart enough to take the chance that the Sampdoria of Vialli and Mancini offered him. The Samp of the greats. It was in Genoa that his prodigious career started, a career that amply repaid the daily effort put into it by himself and his mother Mariarosa. It was she who drove him to practice at Casteldebole when he was still a boy. She brought him in, waited at the edge of the field until he was done with the shower, and took him back home. After a couple of years, she knew more about place kicks, shots, and positioning than many keepers. And she also came to take care of him in Genoa, with her bi-weekly visits that included laundry, housecleaning, and the habitual rations of tagliatelle and tortellini. That is the story of the Pagliuca phenomenon that later went on to win championships, international cups, a place on the National team and yesterday reached the goal of 500 games in Serie A that place him among the true greats of Italian soccer. But this event was not marked by a celebration that all expected. No plaque, no medal before the game with Udinese. He wore the 500 logo on his t-shirt, well hidden under the Bologna uniform. Perhaps he hid it out of fear for bad luck, and only showed it when the game was over, when he was celebrating with his teammates on the way to the locker rooms. Perhaps he did not celebrate before also because he thinks that 500 games are just a take-off point for still higher summits that will allow him to become one of the five greatest Italian soccer players ever.

“It was not a time for silliness,” said Pagliuca in the press conference, “We had a most difficult and important task ahead. We had to be extremely focused on Udinese. I’ll bring cookies and pizzas to Casteldebole on Tuesday, we’ll have all the time to let ourselves go.”

But not even a memorial plaque from Bologna?
“I already have so many at home, I don’t need to add another to the collection. And President Cipollini congratulated me.”

Pagliuca does not want to admit it, but deep down he feels sorry that this prestigious achievement went unheralded.
“The most important thing is that we won against Udinese and that we did not let in a goal. That does make me happy because when a keeper finishes a game unbeaten it’s always a good day for him and his teammates, especially in a transitional moment like we’re experiencing now.”

And he had a big hand, or, rather, two, in keeping Udinese at zero.
“On Pinzi’s shot Colucci did a great job, but I was well placed and would have saved it for sure. Should it have been a penalty? What did Colucci have to do, rip his arm off? I am very happy also that I made a nice save on Jorgensen’s shot because it came at the right time. These three points will allow us to prepare calmly for Modena and be at our best for the derby. This was a good day for me and for Bologna.”

It would have been even better if there had been a little ceremony first for his 500 games in Serie A. But the championship is long, there is a way to fix that, maybe at game number 510.