Our column dedicated to Catuzzi’s Bari dei Bari, now in its twelfth story, focuses on one of the very few non-Bari footballers from that group who missed out on Serie A by just two points in the standings: Carlo Bresciani. A fast, experienced striker with good technical qualities, good in the air, he arrived in Bari in November 1981, collecting a total of 35 appearances for the red and white (20 of which in the memorable 1981-82 season), and a total of 6 goals. In his career he played in Serie A with Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Catanzaro. He played the role of coach first in the youth teams of Fiorentina, and then mainly in the amateurs between Grosseto (promotion to C2), Aglianese, Viareggio, Valle d’Aosta and Alghero. He was also an observer of Padua, Pisa and Frosinone. Born in Tuscany, today, 69 years old, he lives in Lido di Camaiore, in the province of Lucca, along the Versilia coast, and trains the ‘Students’ of Camaiore.
Bari’s Bari was something extraordinary, magical, which will remain forever imprinted in the minds and hearts of the fans. Even today, it is remembered as the most fascinating Bari in history.
So Carlo… what does the Bari of the people of Bari mean to you?
“A wonderful year, which no one could have imagined. We really put on a show. We walked around and people applauded us. We played modern football, which was unheard of at the time. It was fun to see and play with, and I was lucky enough to do so. We went to the field with the happiness of training, and Catuzzi was a spectacle. I played up front with Iorio, top scorer, and your dad (Gigi De Rosa, ed.) who was really strong: small but quick, and always jumped the man. I’ve never had so much fun in my career as I did in Bari.”
You played for Lecce and you arrived in Bari during the championship, together with Majo and Fantini. What pushed you to accept the red and whites?
“I came to Bari with great desire because I knew it was a good team, but not to that point. There was a lot of talk in the community about this cheeky Bari, very nice to look at. Then I met Majo. We got it right the first year, but not the second. That strange flaw remains.”
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A wonderful season, followed by another culminating in relegation…
“The relegation the following year was very strange. With the change of very few players, including Iorio with De Tommasi who had scored a lot of goals against Cavese, we were relegated in a cursed year. But cursed was also the first one, because with a bit of luck, and other things, we could have gone to Serie A. We deserved it more than anyone.”
How do you explain that relegation to C?
“Sometimes I think about it, but I can’t give myself a reason. People still ask me how it was possible, but I can’t give an answer. I only know that the team was the same as usual, and that perhaps Radice wasn’t the right person.”
Bari, however, missed many penalties…
“Yes, we made a lot of mistakes with Bagnato. I wanted to kick them, but I wasn’t allowed to. During the week we continuously trained to take penalties and Giovanni Loseto, in training, didn’t miss a single one. I remember the match against Monza at the end of the championship: we had a penalty in our favor and Radice ordered Giovanni (Loseto, ed.), who turned white in the face, to kick it. I turned to Radice and told him that there was no point in having him pull the punch, being young and from Bari, because the responsibility was enormous. But Radice didn’t listen to me and Giovanni missed that penalty. We lost that match, which condemned us to relegation.”
What was missing, however, for Serie A?
“Nothing was missing. The match we lost against Sampdoria at home condemned us not to go to Serie A: we wanted to win it at all costs, but in some of us the fact that we didn’t want to lose it began to dawn. The draw suited both of us and we didn’t think much in that match. Then, some refereeing mistakes suffered in other matches.”
And how did you explain those refereeing errors?
“We have always asked ourselves why and we have made various hypotheses, including that of the annoyance that the advent of Matarrese at the head of the League could have created. But only they know the truth. Certainly, those wrongs were very serious.”
Tell me about your relationship with Catuzzi…
“Handsome. He was young, but he knew how to deal with us. As soon as I arrived in Bari, I immediately realized what he was made of. We won games based on what he told us during the week. He got them all right. But it was fun to play with the whole group. We did incredible things. Catuzzi was lucky enough to have young people who were behind him, very good technically. Lots of stuff. In fact, they have all made careers. Catuzzi was our north star.”
Did you have difficulty settling into a team full of people from Bari?
“When I arrived in the locker room we couldn’t understand anything (he smiles, ed.). They immediately welcomed us very well, it looked like the locker room of a Primavera team, but from a footballing point of view they were of a higher level.”
The Bari dialect?
“Such things! (laughs, ed.). He kills me when I hear the dialect. I had a great time in Foggia and Lecce, but Bari really remained in my heart. It was very nice and fun to enter the locker room and hear them talk. Little by little I learned it, and Carmelo Bagnato, with whom I had played in Florence, helped me a lot to get closer to the others.”
Bagnato, then, was your translator?
“When they started speaking in strict dialect, it was hard (bursts out laughing, ed.)”.
The word in Bari dialect that you remember fondly?
“All swear words. It’s one of the nicest dialects there can be. When I hear people speaking in Bari, I always feel nostalgic.”
Tell me an anecdote…
“When I was looking for a house with my wife, we went around Bari. At a certain point I found a penthouse, and some friends told me it was perfect, because it was in front of the police. ‘You are in an iron barrel’, they told me. The following Sunday, while I was on the field, they burgled my house. Some teammates, from old Bari, offered to let me know if there was anything they knew around, but it was all in vain. They took quite a few things away from me.” “At the restaurant I always ate rice, potatoes and mussels, which drove me crazy. Oh mama! I ate so much! I have friends who I still contact today. This shows how good I had in Bari.”
What do you remember about the city of Bari?
“Sometimes I couldn’t sleep and at night I went alone to the port, driving directly in. The police often stopped me and told me ‘Oh Brescià! What are you doing here at night?’. I didn’t like going to the disco, I preferred to be with friends and play cards. I went to the seaside a lot: Polignano, Monopoli, where I ate sea urchins caught by local friends. In Bari I learned to eat seafood, even though I don’t like raw food very much. We ate very well.”
You played with Foggia, Lecce and Bari. Which of these three teams are you most attached to?
“I had more fun in Bari. I grew up in the Fiorentina Primavera and went to Foggia where I was top scorer of Serie B and it was the year of my launch. I went to Lecce after the years at Sampdoria and the memory of the city is beautiful. Bari, on the other hand, is the number one team. If I had to go back and they asked me where I wanted to play again, I would choose Bari. Everything was beautiful, we were there with our eyes closed.”
What was the strength of that Bari dei Bari?
“The group and our maestro Catuzzi. We followed him because we were convinced that he was telling us the right thing. And this group also brought out Catuzzi’s qualities.”
Your best goal with the Bari shirt?
“On my debut against Foggia and the one against Verona and Sampdoria, in the direct clashes for Serie A. It was good against Verona: they gave me the ball in the area, I made the first decisive stop and scored from the outside. It seemed easy, but it wasn’t. I did few, but important ones.”
Who is the best coach you’ve had in your career?
“”I had two tactically good coaches like Catuzzi and Galeone, who were somewhat on the same wavelength. Catuzzi is temperamentally more introverted than Galeone. Then Mazzone, who for me was a master of behavior. But Catuzzi is number one. I played with teams where no one said anything, with coaches who didn’t give me anything, but with Catuzzi it was a different story. Sacchi was still to come.”
Who was the nicest red and white footballer?
“Ronzani was killing me: he smoked ten thousand cigarettes a day. I enjoyed reading your nice article. But I had a good relationship with everyone. They were cute when they talked to each other, and I listened to them on the sidelines, bursting with laughter.”
What are you doing today?
“I coach the students of Camaiore, a team of excellence. I spend time and I like being with young people, who are giving me good satisfaction. Something that Catuzzi taught me, I still remember today and I put it into practice. We were lucky to have him, we really learned a lot.”
What do you think of football today?
“Today physically they are beasts, while we perhaps had more defects on a physical level, even if technically we had nothing to envy of anyone. I don’t spit on the plate where I ate, but too much money goes around sponsors, advertising and business. Many things have changed. The future rich people will be athletes because in many sports the figures are frightening.”
Do you follow Bari? Will he be able to save himself?
“Not in a broad way. He’s not feeling very well and I hoped that with Iachini, who I know well and who seemed like the right person, the situation would improve. Bari deserves more. Never give up, even if it’s not easy. Sometimes, incredible strengths emerge from difficult situations. You see the Bari of the people of Bari, from one year to the next everything changed”.
What do you remember about the Della Vittoria stadium?
“I haven’t been to Bari since 1983. My Bari is at the Vittoria stadium: so much stuff, so many exquisite memories. It was our fort. I have photos of the packed stadium that I show to friends, and they are incredulous. San Nicola is too big and too distracting.”
Is the Bari of Bari unrepeatable?
“Unrepeatable. Sometimes mechanisms happen, like between two people who meet and like each other. It’s chemistry. There’s nothing to be done, it’s unrepeatable.”
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