Last April, when he turned 80, his boys, those he had raised as a coach in the football section of the Polisportiva Mandello, had celebrated him with affection at the Circolo Promessi Sposi in Molina. Today, with the phrase posted on social media “Ciao Zana, great leader and great man. We will not forget you, may the earth rest lightly on you” they pay homage to his memory after his death yesterday, Friday 28 June. At 81 years old, Gianni Zanetti leaves behind a piece of Mandello history written over many years, over twenty, in which football was his life. A passion for football transmitted with grace and skill to the many players who mourn him today.
Among them, Luciano Andreotti, who remembers him like this. “I didn’t have much time with him as a coach, I immediately ended up on loan at Despar in Lecco after pre-season training. Mister Zanetti had been loyal as always, a way of being inherent in his DNA. He spoke clearly and left me free to choose He was frank and respectful towards his players, very knowledgeable from a technical point of view. For him, when I stopped playing football, I acted as an observer of the matches to be played the following Sunday. He sent me to attend the matches, accompanying them with a report on the opponents, when I started to follow the youth sector, dear Gianni was always generous with advice by coming to follow the matches of that sector. Mandellese lost a truly important figure – concludes Andreotti – With his passing, a good one is gone He’s a great person, I’m very sorry.”
Zanetti was also known for having worked for a long time at Officine del Maglio, a well-known Mandellese company, before his well-deserved retirement. In these hours of pain, many are rallying around Gianni Zanetti’s family, his wife Sandra and his daughters Katia and Sabrina, and his football players. The funeral will be celebrated on Monday 1 July at 10.30 am in the church of the Sacred Heart in Mandello del Lario. (Thanks to Alberto Bottani for his collaboration)
