«Best wishes Marcello”. Two simple words to close the interview with Sky Sport’s microphones. Luciano Spalletti he has just won his first match as Italy coach at a European Championship and everyone is paying attention to the tactical analyzes of the former Napoli coach, lucid and even a little colourful: «We need to stay focused, because we always have the chance». Traces of Tuscanness that don’t go away even with the Italian representative jacket and that’s okay. Many smile, few pay attention to that “Best wishes Marcello”, which for Spalletti is perhaps the most important part of the interview. Yes, because yesterday, June 15th, it would have been his brother Marcello’s birthday, who passed away in 2019 when he was 66 due to cancer.
Who was Marcello Spalletti, Luciano’s brother
The two were very close, Italy understood this for the first time when Spalletti couldn’t hold back his tears in remembering him after winning the scudetto with Napoli: «To my daughter Matilde, to the family, who are always there to push. To all my friends, to my brother Marcello”, the dedication of the then Italian coach after the match in Udine, before the emotion forced him to abandon the TV station.
“It was everything for me, I suffered a lot”
In yesterday’s pre-match Spalletti was smiling, he seemed calm despite the importance of the match. The face of someone who knows that just sitting on the bench of the national team is a victory, especially after a career as long as his. And of those who are aware that they are not alone, because in addition to the millions of fans in front of the TV, from up there there is also their beloved brother Marcello ready to support him, precisely on his birthday: «For me it was everything. And more – he told Corriere interviewed by Walter Veltroni – He played football, he saw that I was good and was proud of me. He protected me and, at the same time, always pushed me to improve. When he left, I suffered a lot.” The victory against Albania the best way to remember him. A smile on Marcello, after the initial shock of the quick goal from behind, will surely have brought him out.
