Nicola Caricola
Encyclopedia
Nicola Caricola is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
) is a former Italian footballer who played as a sweeper.
On the club level, Caricola played for Bari
A.S. Bari
Associazione Sportiva Bari is an Italian football club founded in 1908, they are based in Bari, Apulia and plays in Serie B. The club have spent many seasons bouncing between the top two divisions in Italian football, Serie A and Serie B....
(1981–83), Juventus
Juventus F.C.
Juventus Football Club S.p.A. , commonly referred to as Juventus and colloquially as Juve , are a professional Italian association football club based in Turin, Piedmont...
(1983–87), Genoa
Genoa C.F.C.
Genoa Cricket and Football Club, commonly referred to simply as Genoa , is a professional Italian football club based in the city of Genoa, Liguria...
(1987–94, 1994–95), and Torino
Torino F.C.
Torino Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Torino, is a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont, that was founded in 1906. The club has spent most of its history in the top tier in Italian football....
(1994). He finished out his career with the MetroStars
Metrostars
Metrostar may refer to:*New York Red Bulls, formerly called the "MetroStars", a soccer team from New York*Manila Metro Rail Transit System, popularly called "The Metrostar Express", a part of the metropolitan rail system in Manila...
of Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer is a professional soccer league based in the United States and sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation . The league is composed of 19 teams — 16 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada...
, playing with them during the league's inaugural season in 1996. Although Caricola played well for the team, he is most remembered for the own goal
Own goal
An own net occurs in goal-scoring games when a player scores a goal that is registered against his or her own team. It is usually accidental, and may be a result of an attempt at defensive play that failed or was spoiled by opponents....
he scored in the dying seconds of the club's first home game, a 1–0 loss to New England Revolution
New England Revolution
The New England Revolution is an American professional association football club based in Foxborough, Massachusetts which competes in Major League Soccer , the top professional soccer league in the United States and Canada...
.
In 2005 Nicola Caricola moved to Cape Town, South Africa and established Nicaf Espresso Systems, official distributor of Lavazza Espresso Coffee in southern Africa. The name "Nicaf" stands for "NI-cola" and "CAF-fe'".