Cagliari’s curve never becomes unbalanced. But for him this afternoon made an exception. As happened with Gigi Riva. A 30 meter long banner with the writing: “Eternal gratitude for a great man, thank you mister”. It is the fans’ penultimate tribute to Claudio Ranieri: a party with almost 5 thousand people (the south curve also open due to too many requests) this afternoon during open-door training ahead of the last championship match tomorrow against Fiorentina. It is the response, with the heart, to the farewell to Cagliari of the coach of three promotions and two salvations. Before the start of training, the chorus that accompanied Cagliari’s matches led by the Roman coach 35 years ago began from the stands: “We will rise again, Claudio Ranieri said so”. The coach himself approached the curve, climbed over the advertising billboards and shook hands with the supporters in the front rows. As a further gift, a t-shirt with a writing reiterating the message of eternal gratitude to the coach arrived from the stands. On the front of the t-shirt is the image of Ranieri waving at the curve. Ranieri, visibly moved, then led training in the center of the pitch. Another party tomorrow. Between applause and tears: we are moving towards a full house. Yesterday, in a video message to the fans, Ranieri renewed all his love for Cagliari (of which he is an honorary citizen) and for Cagliari. Explaining the reason for choosing him. “It’s a painful, hard decision, made reluctantly but it’s right to leave now. I prefer to go like this and not maybe stay another year and things aren’t going well.” A farewell to the clubs, but not to football: for Ranieri the national hypothesis always remains. It is very difficult, despite the matches in recent days with Bologna and Naples, for him to sit on the bench of some Italian team. Also because, in an interview in recent months, Ranieri had explicitly explained that Cagliari would be his last adventure in a club. Now there are the Europeans. And some national teams, perhaps after a tournament below expectations, could need someone like Ranieri: by June the future of the coach famous throughout the world for his feat with Leicester could be defined. And Cagliari, who perhaps had guessed or taken into account what would happen, are already working to find a replacement. The names of Barons, Gotti and Dionisi are already circulating.
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