Serie A has a new star - Carvalho De Oliveira Amauri, a striker whose goals have fired Palermo to the top of the table and may soon spark a custody row between the Brazilian and Italian national teams.
Amauri nailed his fourth and fifth goals of the season Sunday and set up a third to spur the Sicilian side to a 2-3 victory at in-form Fiorentina.
That win enabled Palermo to keep a share of the lead with Inter, who beat cross-town rivals Milan 4-3 on Saturday night. Both leaders have 21 points from nine games.
"Amauri Phenomenon" read a headline in sport's daily Corriere dello Sport Monday.
The powerful Brazilian-born player is being hailed as the complete striker.
He has the strength to make his presence felt in the area, the skill to go past defenders and the vision to set up chances for his team-mates.
He can shoot with both feet and is strong in the air too.
Amauri showed his full range of skills in Florence.
He threaded a 20-metre pass into the path of strike partner David Di Michele for his side's opener.
He rose above a defender to head home a cross from the edge of the penalty area 10 minutes from the end. Then he dribbled past Fiorentina's Dario Dainelli and curled the ball into the far corner for the winner in injury time.
The 26-year-old is soon going to take dual Italian-Brazilian citizenship, which he qualifies for thanks to his Italian ancestry.
Azzurri coach Roberto Donadoni has confirmed that he is interested in selecting Amauri for Italy when he becomes eligible.
But Brazil coach Dunga may pre-empt Donadoni by calling Amauri up for the Seleç o's friendly with Switzerland in Basel on November 15. This would make him unavailable for Italy, because a footballer that has played with one national team cannot then be part of another.
On Italian television Amauri said he would go running to Dunga if called up.
But he diplomatically added that he "would like to wear the Azzurri shirt", if this does not happen.
Therefore, Amauri is in with a chance of competing for places on the international stage with bigger-name strikers who, however, are struggling for form - Ronaldo and Inter's Adriano in the case of Brazil, AC Milan duo Alberto Gilardino and Filippo Inzaghi with the Azzurri.
Amauri has had to sweat hard to make it big, playing for three years with Serie A mid-tablers Chievo Verona after stints with Messina (in the second division), Empoli, Piacenza and Napoli.
He grew up in a poor suburb of Sao Paulo. But he considers himself lucky because, unlike some of his friends, he never went hungry during his childhood.
He is thankful for what he has and remains modest enough to constantly work on improving his game - one of the qualities that most endears him to Palermo boss Francesco Guidolin.
Amauri's talent was almost missed. A scout got him a trial with a second-division Brazilian side when he was 19 - very late for a footballer - after seeing him play in a street match.
Last summer he moved from Chievo to Palermo for eight million euros, which now looks to have been the bargain deal of the transfer market.
Milan owner and Italian opposition leader Silvio Berlusconi, meanwhile, is blaming his side's difficult plight on political plotting.
"I say to Inter supporters that it is easy to win when there is someone at the premier's office who denies us points," Berlusconi said after the derby defeat.
The former premier was unhappy with the way the derby was refereed and with Friday's decision by the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI) arbitration panel not to reduce Milan's eight-point penalty for its part in the Calciopoli referee-rigging scandal.
The panel reduced the penalties of three other clubs involved - Lazio's handicap was cut from 11 points to three, Fiorentina's from 19 to 15 and Juventus' penalty in Serie B went down from 17 points to nine.
Milan are 14th with seven points, after winning just one of their last seven Serie A matches.
Fiorentina owner Diego Della Valle was also disappointed with the CONI panel's ruling and has said he is considering taking the matter to the civil courts.
Fiorentina are second from bottom with zero points, after eating up the penalty with five wins from nine games.
On Saturday third-placed Roma beat Udinese (5th) 0-1.
Siena (4th) also won away from home on Sunday afternoon, beating Ascoli (17th) 0-1.
Lazio (13th) - Reggina (bottom), and Livorno (7th) - Empoli (9th) ended goalless.
Parma (16th) upset in-form Atalanta (6th) 3-1, while Cagliari (12th) beat Sampdoria (10th) 1-0 and Chievo (18th) lost 2-1 in Messina (8th).
Catania (11th) and Torino (15th) battled out a 1-1 draw.
