“Like every day, they were here yesterday. They watched the World Cup matches Morocco-Portugal together, then also France-England. So they must have gone bowling and then come back here again. We don’t know what happened after that.”
Telling it with a broken voice is Simone Ballacchino, president and manager of the sports-recreational club of Alexandria, in via Pietro Nenni, in the Cristo Re district, place of residence of the majority of the young protagonists before the dawn of an accident at the gates of the city, of which three died.
They were friends with each other, with a shared passion for football, whether as players or fans, and they frequented the club, now in mourning. For the manager it's like talking “of my children. In fact, all of them were too.”
And of Lorenzo Vancheri, 21 years old, remembers the skill of a footballer. “He was an excellent striker, the spearhead of our Us Nuova Gandini”. Passionate about football too Lorenzo Pantuosco, aged 23. Son of Mary and Vito of the pastry shop 'La Dolce Vito' in the Alessandria suburb of Spinetta Marengo.
His name is linked to La DolceVito Calcio (Third Category) and to Luese Christ (Excellency), where he was a storekeeper. “After a long courtship I managed to convince him to come to us – confides an emotional Daniel Romeo, general manager -. This morning, before leaving for a match in Turin, when we arrived we didn't see him, we hoped he had fallen asleep.
When we learned of the accident as soon as we got off the bus, we were speechless. We can't realize it, maybe we'll realize it when we return to Alessandria". Lorenzo Pantuosco was also a summer entertainer, "joy personified". Alessandria Calcio (serie C) also gathers tightly around his mother Mary and his father, mourning the tragic and premature death of Lorenzo, remembering his kindness and passion for the Grigi colors, inherited from his father Vito.
“When the news arrived,” adds the club manager, “our world collapsed. It was a blow. They were all very good and calm, some studying, some working, not used to drinking, except Estathè. I can’t understand what could have gone wrong.
The car, as far as I know, belonged to the driver's father: a good family, like him. Could he have been scared at the sight of the police? We'll see. Today we can only cry."
All together, united as it has always been. Friends speechless, but still at the Club with their heads in their hands and mutual hugs. Close to the families of the other victim, the 15-year-old Denise Maspi, and of 21-year-old Vincenzo Parisi, in very serious condition after temporary cardiac arrest, the Association of Activities and Commerce of the Cristo District, which announces that it has cancelled the Christmas events scheduled for December 17: "We join in the grief for the grave loss".
They had proposed postponing the match, but the federation did not grant it due to the short advance of the request. So the players of Luese Cristo, a team that plays in group B of the Piedmontese Excellence tournament, took to the field even with a heavy heart.
Luese is the team whose storekeeper was Lorenzo Pantuosco, 21 years old, one of the victims of the terrible accident in Cantalupo. The team from Alessandria played away against CBS Turin. The team won 3-1 dedicating the victory to Lorenzo.
Article published on 11 December 2022 - 22:36
