Davis Curiale

Club career

Curiale is the son of Sicilian parents originally from Campobello di Mazara who emigrated to Germany in the 1980s. He started playing football at the age of 5 for local Cologne team SV Mülheim-Nord. Noted in 2004 by former Palermo and Udinese star Giovanni Montalbano, head coach of Eccellenza club Salemi at the time, during a summer beach soccer tournament in Campobello, he accepted to sign for the club but left it soon after to join Campobello, another Eccellenza team, in November 2004. He scored nine goals for Campobello, helping them to win Eccellenza Sicily and ensure a historical first promotion to Serie D. From 2005 to 2007, he played for Palermo Primavera, notably scoring 28 goals in the 2006–07 season with the Under-20 team, being instrumental in helping the rosanero youth team to reach the Campionato Nazionale Primavera semi-final, then lost to Inter Milan. On 5 June 2007, Palermo loaned him out to Sambenedettese of Serie C1 in order to let him achieve some first-team experience. With Samb, Curiale played a total of 29 matches, scoring nine goals, and being instrumental in the team's escape from relegation. Following his impressive experience with Sambenedettese, Curiale received some interest from several Serie B teams. In July 2008, Palermo and Vicenza agreed a one-year loan for the young striker. As he did not manage to gain a regular first-team place with Vicenza (only playing three games in the first half of the season), he returned to…