Enrico Broccatelli, alias Zenga, has a devil in his hair (only in a figurative sense). Caused, it would seem, by the subtitle of an article published by a regional newspaper. He tells what happened:
“I thought the part of the subtitle about me was wrong. My words, collected in the post-match conference, were misinterpreted. They did not want to be an attack on the Orvieto public who, on the contrary, I thanked and I confirm, during the period of our management they were really close to us and did not lack support, following us even away and concluding the season with the wonderful frame of the stands full for the decisive match. An enthusiasm also transferred outside the stadium, where it was easy to meet many people interested in the fate of the team. At the same time I understand the initial skepticism of a small part of the fans regarding the technical choice. Even if it was the part of the story that saddened me the most. I was counting on greater ‘clemency’, towards two authentic Orvietans called to lead Orvietana, in Serie D, for the first time in the 114 years of red and white history. However, we have achieved our aim, we are happy for ourselves and for all athletes without exception”.
The little hitch couldn’t spoil the party after the thrilling final ninety minutes:
“Even more spectacular and, for us, a little unexpected. Given how the championship developed as a whole, we were already ready to focus on the play outs. The perfect fit of three results seemed impossible. Instead it happened and for me, from Orvieto with Orvietana in my heart forever, it all had a truly special flavor“.
We can also say, at this point, about the role you played in the composition of the award-winning company, Rizzolo&Broccatelli:
“I can only thank everyone, from the President, to Matteo Panzetta and Severino Capretti for being the first person to be asked about what to do immediately. When responding to the request on what my thoughts were regarding the technical choice, I immediately mentioned Antonio’s name. Because I know him thoroughly, in my opinion he is an excellent coach with a character that is functional for what was needed and, also, as he himself later said, he has always felt like an Orvieto native who loves Orvietana. In short, in that moment, the desire to do something good prevailed over friendship. The decision was then taken by those responsible as it should be“.
Has it ever happened along the way that your ideas didn’t match?
“We discussed a lot, but only about technical things. The word quarrel does not belong to us. A smile always accompanied us, even in the most difficult moments. We both like the discussion on how to apply philosophy to football starting from the same ideas. Antonio is far from a fundamentalist but a coach who wants players who know how to suffer, defend themselves by adjusting the level depending on the match, attack strongly and stand tall. We both consider the ‘real team’ to be the one capable of doing everything and possibly well“.
This eternal boy recently celebrated his fourteenth year of activity, between the bench and scouting for the Modena canaries. He started at Ciconia, called to try to save himself and then even achieved it with two play outs overcome. He went elsewhere, creating a dense network of friendships and many footballing satisfactions. He has a natural gift of being able to integrate immediately into any context he finds himself in at the moment, starting from the players he trains.
His heart, however, has always had white and red beats, since he was five years old and his father Ennio took him to watch the matches at the old pitch in Via Roma. He considers the company to have grown enormously in recent years. The measure, in his opinion, is given by the level reached by the youth sector and first team teams, now in Serie D and previously always well placed in the regional championships. He has words of admiration for this year’s Junior team, which he coached at the beginning of the season and is now entrusted to Giuseppe Olimpieri after being called up to the first team:
“Well done Peppe – which passes in front of us at that moment – in bringing our boys to the national finals as never before“.
From those years he is pleased to remember the relationship created with Carmelo Bagnato who always wanted him close. He didn’t compare himself with him but continually tried to learn something about the profession that would later also be his job. Rizzolo passes in front of us and it is natural to ask for a comparison between him and the former coach who did very well in Orvieto:
“Carmelo, we were at the beginning of the 90s, in terms of the way of interpreting football he was an innovator. More than thirty years have passed and from many points of view things have changed. Similar is the accuracy in preparing for the match, in particular the attention to detail. Characteristically I’m almost the opposite. While for Antonio it is almost instantaneous to put himself in the shoes of those in front of him, Carmelo let’s say that he selected the subjects. My gratitude goes to both of them. I have the opportunity to express it to Antonio, I send a greeting to Carmelo and I hope that he can read these lines from Scalea“.
