The former Juventus champion tells his story: “Baggio called me ‘Geppetto’. When Barbara died I left football to be with my children, I cried alone to show myself strong. Now Lucia has given me a new light”
Journalist
December 30 – 11.49am – MILANO
We are republishing the interviews most appreciated by readers of the Gazzetta dello Sport in 2025. The one with Moreno Torricelli was published on 15 October.
The story of Moreno Torricelli is that of a man who made the slap of the wind his friend, suffering and guarding the precious gift of tenacity. First in pain, then in rebirth. In the many silences he discovered the secret of a new beginning, learning how to straighten that crooked wood we call life. “Misfortunes happen to everyone, not just me, it depends on how you face them and how you react.” Torricelli won everything with Juventus, coming from the amateurs. A bet won by Trapattoni. He was a carpenter, he discovered himself as a Serie A footballer. Then, after retiring, he had to face the drama of his wife Barbara, who passed away in 2010. A fulminant leukemia took her away. “For many months, while we fought against the disease, I tried to reassure everyone, I kept many things inside. I didn’t want her and our children to lose hope.”
Torricelli, let’s start from the beginning. His arrival at Juventus seems like the fairy tale of a man kissed by destiny. Tell us about it.
“I was 22 years old and I played among the amateurs. In the morning I worked as a carpenter in a furniture factory and in the evening I went to train. It was ’92 and Juve had many players involved with the national team for a promotional tour of the American World Cup, so they called me and other guys to play friendlies. For me it was already a dream to be there. Trapattoni liked me, who chose first to take me on tour to Japan with them and then to make me make my debut in championship. ‘If they don’t take Vierchowod, I’ll bet on the kid,’ he said. I owe him everything.
And how did the locker room welcome her?
“Well, they too had read the story in the newspapers. Just think that Baggio, as a joke, called me ‘Geppetto’. And I am still nicknamed like that today. For Trapattoni, from Brianza like me, I was ‘lumber’. Or carpenter.”
We’re talking about a kid who entered a locker room full of champions: was there anyone who intimidated you a little?
“At the beginning yes, I was a bit shy. It wasn’t my world, I had to get used to it. Just think that in three months I went from a salary of 2-3 million lire to one of eighty. For example, I was a bit affected by Vialli’s personality, we had arrived together: he as an Italian champion with Sampdoria, I as an unknown. Then, over time, we became friends. I remember that he didn’t like driving, so I picked him up every morning to take him to the pitch. He was a brother and a great captain.”
There was also a certain Zinedine Zidane.
“Zizou arrived later, accompanied by a bit of skepticism on the part of television and newspapers. We had sold Vialli and Ravanelli and we were coming off the Champions League victory. I didn’t know Zidane, but at the first training session we were all speechless. Veronica, two dribbles and off we go. Heavens above. We looked at each other as if to say: ‘what planet does this one come from?’”.
Even if his favorite remains Del Piero.
“Of course, for me he’s a step above the others… and not because I’m biased. Alex and I spent a lot of time together, seeing as we were among the youngest of the group. He, however, was already a champion. Juve had paid him a lot, they all talked about him as the future of Italian football. We immediately bonded, he frequented my house a lot. My wife, who was a hairdresser, also cut his hair. Many times he stopped for dinner with us, how many laughs we had.”
Yes, Barbara. An illness took her away at the age of 40.
“Terrible leukemia. The worst thing was having to explain it to my children. They were 15, 11 and 10 years old. The doctors informed me that the situation was serious right away, but I initially chose not to say anything to the family. I didn’t want them to lose hope.”
And have you ever lost it?
“I kept many things inside, I pretended on many occasions and endured on others. I cried alone, at home and in the hospital they needed to see me strong. It was a 10-month long ordeal. Only in the last few days did I collapse and tell my wife what his condition really was.”
Football gave her a lot, then life was remade with interests…
“Misfortunes happen to everyone, not just me. It depends on how you deal with them and how you react. I lived a fairy tale in football, winning a lot with Juve. Outside I had Barbara, with whom I spent 20 wonderful years and with whom I had 3 wonderful children. I have no regrets or remorse.”
After the death of his wife he chose to stop playing football completely. He was a coach at the time, but turned down several offers…
“Yes, I had an important offer from Crotone in Serie B, but how could I accept? For my children, losing their mother was already a blow, let alone moving house, city and losing all their friends. Now I would gladly return to the bench, perhaps starting with the boys.”
What does Torricelli do in life today?
“I’m back to doing what I did as a kid: carpentry. I help a craftsman from the area here in Valle D’Aosta and I enjoy building the mountain pasture of my new partner, Lucia. She was important in my rebirth, she gave me a new light, entering on tiptoe into my life. Even with Arianna, Alessio and Aurora she was very delicate. For them their mother is and will always remain one.”
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