There is a fatigue that makes no noise, that leaves no headlines on the front page but marks the skin and forges the soul. It is the one that Luciano Spalletti talks about in his book “Heaven exists… but how much effort”, written with Giancarlo Dotto and published by Rizzoli. A sincere, essential, never acidic autobiography. A story that begins on the dusty fields of Avane, a working-class suburb of Empoli, and reaches the most coveted peak: the bench of the National team. “I did it to leave my children the account of my life – Spalletti confesses to Walter Veltroni – whoever has a story to tell has a duty to do so."
His is a life lived without filters or shortcuts, as a shy loner who lives with his land and with himself, far from shop windows and glossy spotlights. “In Montaione, alone, I feel great. With my land, the workers, the animals. Solitude keeps me company”, says the current Italian coach, who built his destiny brick by brick, without an agent, without glitter. "I come from calluses on my hands, not from cascading diamonds. And sometimes it seems incredible to me that they pay me to do what I love."
The move to Naples, his masterpiece, remains the highest point of his career. And also the most painful. “I will never forget the happiness and melancholy of those people, the intensity with which they live football. But after the championship there was not a phone call, nor an open bus. And this hurt me”. There is gratitude for De Laurentiis, but also a wound that has not healed.
Today Spalletti looks ahead, leading Italy with the same obsession for detail with which he has faced his entire life. And he also casts a glance at Inzaghi's Inter, praising the European growth of the Nerazzurri: “I saw them in the Champions League, they are on par with the best”. Behind all this, there remains the vision of a man who believes in the authentic value of football, in the passion that fills the stands and that, at times, can even explode. Like when, at the beginning of his Neapolitan adventure, his Panda was stolen “to invite him” to leave. But even there, Spalletti don't complain. Always look beyond. With a low voice, but one that reaches far.
Article published on May 12, 2025 - 16:19 pm
