Digging the soil to fill in the furrow must have been difficult. Antonio Conte he did so with tears in his eyes, his heart in turmoil and the thought that goes to Gian Piero Ventrone, died of fulminant leukemia. On the training ground tottenham the team and coaching staff are gathered around the Italian oak tree planted close to the pitch. Before the work session they observed a minute of silence, sixty seconds with a lump in the throat, during which everything comes to mind.
It was a symbolic ritual, a gesture full of affection to remember the sports coach and friend that the former Juventus player still wanted with him in his experience in London. He had ‘known’ his methods as a player (in black and white) and ensured that from Bari to Spurs he was by his side to prepare the teams’ body and spirit. They had to be ready to give everything and more, beyond their limits. “It pushed me to surpass my real possibilities“, is the phrase that appears several times in the phrases used by the Salento coach to talk about his collaborator.
Ventrone landed like a marine on his muscles. He entered the head and the soul. It wasn’t just a matter of legs, but achieving that level of awareness of one’s means and psychological strength, like being strong and relentless in the game. Never give up. Improvise (because anything can happen during a match), adapt and reach the goal. There was enough to complete that applied football survival school.
The pain dissolved into tears at the funeral held in recent days at the church of San Luigi Gonzaga in Naples. Before the championship match with Brighton, the players wore a jersey with a symbolic message (“forever in our hearts” the words dedicated to Ventrone). The minute of silence observed a few moments before kick-off was also harrowing, with cameras lingering on the faces of the players and Antonio Conte in particular.
He could barely hold back his tears and at one point, sitting on the bench, he buried his face in his hands and snorted. He was devastated and overwhelmed with emotions. Certain things fall on you, what remains is a deep sense of melancholy. And with him also the most precious example and teachings: “They appreciated him because he was a hard worker and, to me, a scientist in his profession”. Everything dissolves, not everything is lost.
Source: Fan Page IT
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
