Andrea Fortunato (; 26 July 1971 – 25 April 1995) was an Italian football player who played as a left-back. Fortunato was one of Italy's most promising prospects in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and he enjoyed a successful yet very short spell in Italian football, before contracting leukemia; he died in April 1995. Throughout his club career, he played for Como, Pisa, Genoa, and Juventus, while at international level he represented the Italian national team on one occasion, in 1993. Early life Andrea Fortunato was born into a middle-class family in Salerno; his father, Giuseppe, was a cardiologist, while his mother, Lucia, was a librarian; he also had a brother and a sister. As a youngster, Andrea also swam and played water polo, in addition to football. He began playing football with the Como youth side at the age of 13, although his parents also insisted that he complete his high school diploma in accounting, in case his footballing career turned to be unsuccessful. Career Como, Genoa, and Pisa Fortunato started his professional career as a left-back with the Como first team in 1988, at the age of 17, making his Serie B debut with the club on 29 October 1989, in a 1–0 home win against Cosenza. The young player from Salerno played 16 times with the Lariani in his first season, who were relegated to Serie C1. He soon established himself into the team's starting line-up the following season, making 27 appearances in the league, as Como narrowly missed out on promotion to Serie B, losing out in the playoff to Venezia. Fortunato's consistent performances caught the eye of bigger Italian clubs – most notably Genoa. It was the Ligurian side who signed Fortunato in 1991; however, his limited opportunities with the club, due to the presence of the more experienced Branco in his role, led to an argument with Osvaldo Bagnoli's assistant manager Sergio Maddè. As a result, Fortunato was labelled as an "arrogant hothead", and was immediately loaned out to Serie B side Pisa for the 1991–92 season, where he made 25 appearances. After an impressive spell with Pisa, Fortunato returned to the Grifoni, where he made his Serie A debut on 6 September 1992, in a 1–1 away draw against Fiorentina. He teamed up with right-back Christian Panucci, another promising Italian full-back, and together they formed a formidable defensive young partnership. In his