A 21-year-old New Yorker set off for a dream trip to Perugia with her family. Cynthia Alston’s mind raced with excitement during the 12-hour flight from JFK to San Francesco d’Assisi Airport. She fantasised about seeing the Holy Trinity – frescoes by Renaissance painters Raphael and Pietro Perugino – at the Cappella di San Severo; sipping Garibaldi and Negroni cocktails in enchanting piazzas; visiting the Etruscan Arch, Galleria Nazionale dell’Umbria and Rocca Paolina; and tasting the Baci chocolates, black truffles, cave-aged Pecorino cheeses, cured meats and Stringozzi pasta for which the region is renowned. The last thing in her thoughts – especially given that she was accompanied by her parents – was romance. Then her eyes met with those of a medical student from Jesi, a medieval town outside Ancona. It was love at first sight. In the blink of an eye, she swapped single life for marriage and ‘The Big Apple’ for the boot-shaped peninsula. Cynthia and Carlo Moretti have been blissfully bonded for the 53 years since. Andrea and Diego, the couple’s two sons, grew up wanting to spend time in their mother’s birthland. The former did. He completed a master’s degree at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and went on to live and work in New York for seven memorable years. Diego’s target was to finish a political science degree in Bologna and then go on to do a sporting scholarship in the States. Just as it had for his mamma, however, one dream transformed into another. He abruptly ended his education, and hopes of living in the USA, by accepting an offer from a professional futsal club when he was 19. For the next 18 years he enjoyed an admirable career as a goalkeeper in Italy’s top division. “I always felt I made the right decision,” he said, “but there was a part of me that was sad that I never got to live in the States.” Then, in 2020’s infancy, he got an out-of-the-blue alert on Messenger that would shake his world and relieve his regret. It was enquiring to whether he had an American passport. The response was affirmative. Astonishingly, 15 minutes later, Dusan Jakica, the coach of USA’s relaunched futsal team, was on the phone. Moretti would go on to heroically inspire USA to their first FIFA Futsal World Cup™ since 2008 and captain them at Lithuania 2021. The 42-year-old tells FIFA his mind-blowing story, and discusses Team USA’s hopes at the upcoming Concacaf Futsal Championship, which offers four tickets to the global finals in Uzbekistan.

FIFA: Growing up, you always wanted to live in the USA for a period, right?
Diego Moretti: My mother’s two sisters live in New York. I have a lot of cousins across the States. My brother studied there, did a master’s degree and worked in New York for seven years. I always thought I would end up there for a while. My passion is sport. I used to play up front in soccer, as a wing in handball, and I played tennis. I thought the States would be a great opportunity for me to play and study sport. But I started playing futsal when I was 17 and when I was 19, I got a call to play for a professional team in the top division. I was studying political science in Bologna at the time, but I had to give it up. I think I made the right decision, but I was always a little bit sad I never got to go to the States. Getting called up by the US was the perfect way to make up for it. I feel very lucky.

It was a crazy situation. There was a guy I didn’t know called Nicholas Silvestri. He has a futsal academy. He contacted me on Messenger saying, ‘You have an American passport, right?’ I said, ‘Yes. Who are you?’ He explained, asked if he could pass on the information to the US head coach, and asked if I had a video I could send him. I asked if he knew the coach. He said no. So I’m thinking, ‘There’s absolutely no chance anything will come of this’, but I sent him the video anyway. Fifteen minutes later the phone rings. To my disbelief, it was Dusan Jakica, the US head coach. He said, ‘Do you really have an American passport?’ I said, ‘Yes, but it’s expired, I need to renew it.’ He said, ‘Send me all the information and I’ll sort it. We have a camp in Croatia in the next 20 days.’ It was crazy. Can you imagine playing futsal for 20 years and, 15 minutes after sending a video to a random person, you get a call from the US national team coach? It was absolutely crazy.

When I first got called up, I was playing for Padova in the Italian first league. I got to the camp and I was the only professional futsal player. Then COVID came. We ended up jumping into the Concacaf [Futsal] Championship with no experience. I didn’t know any of my team-mates. We had no idea what level we were at, no expectations. It was incredible because we qualified for the World Cup and reached the final against Costa Rica. We lost 3-2 but the whole tournament was magical, amazing.

It was one of the most emotional things in my life. Two years earlier I couldn’t have even imagined I would be playing at a World Cup. It was hard to believe. Being in the US jersey, hearing the national anthem was a huge honour. We got beat heavily in our first game, but what do you expect? We were mainly indoor players and we were playing against the world champions. That World Cup is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.