It will be a beastly Sunday for the coaches of Parma ed Hellas Veronafacing each other in the 16th round of Serie A.
If, on the one hand, the Scala coach Paolo Zanetti remained glued to his bench perhaps more due to a lack of real alternatives than the conviction to continue together, on the other, mister Fabio Pecchia he is firmly at the helm of the Crusaders who will lead from the sidelines for the 101st lap. But it won’t be a challenge like the others. In addition to offering 3 very heavy salvation points, i memories of the exwhich will inevitably resurface in the moments before the match, will make Pecchia and his staff experience a day of passion.
Own with the Scala family the technician from Formia, 86 benches from 2016 to 2018, he appeared in the top flight for the first time, after having conquered it in the previous months with a good run from the bottom (74 points in 42 games): however, he failed to achieve another feat. The 7 wins and 4 draws (in all 38 days available) are too few to save the category. His two-year period in Verona – concluded with a average points Of 1,29 per game and a budget of 111 points overall – had been shared with the faithful Marco Antonio Ferrone (athletic trainer) e Valerio Visconti (goalkeeping coach) by his side since day one, while with the current deputy Antonio Portawho arrived in Veneto only in the 2017/2018 season, had worked indirectly given the role of Under 19 coach entrusted to the “master” from Procida. The latter, unlike the student, would have remained at Setti’s court for two more years: the first was also spent in Spring, the second in Under 17.
The 48 months spent in Verona would have given Pecchia two more names in the future to complete his staff of two trusted technical collaborators, today present in the Parma organization chart: Ferdinando Coppolastill a goalkeeper at the time (in Serie B he was the “twelfth”, in Serie A he regressed to third before hanging up his gloves), and Gennaro Troianielloa talismanic midfielder who that year would win his 5th promotion from Serie B (Siena, 2011; Sassuolo, 2013; Palermo, 2014; Bologna, 2015; Hellas Verona, 2017). The 6th, as a collaborator in Parma, is recent but well-known history.
But the list of yellow-blue “old acquaintances” will not be limited to Pecchia and his technical staff. Even to the attacker Matteo Cancellierinow an immovable starter in the Crusader starting eleven, will have a close encounter as a former player. The right winger, born in 2002, moved from Rome a Verona in the summer of 2020, with the Scaligeri he not only managed to make his debut in Serie A in the 2021/’22 season – which ended with 12 appearances for a total of 218′ played –, but also to mark the first goal from the “pro” (and unique in that year), on 20 March 2022, at Empoli, his future team.
Pecchia, Porta, Ferrone, Visconti, Coppola, Troianiello and also Cancellieri: many destinies that come together before the match against Hellas. On Sunday, however, there will be no room for sentimentality.
(On the cover, Fabio Pecchia embraces his deputy Antonio Porta – ©Photo: Lorenzo Cattani/SportParma)
