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Football coach and language teacher Guilliano Orrico |
It’s an Italia ’90 revival with la scuola di calcio!
Guiliano rekindles World Cup memories with football and language coaching
PAVAROTTI sang the theme and Gazza’s tears touched a nation – then Chris Waddle blazed over the bar and the Germans won again.
For misty-eyed England fans of a certain age, Italia ’90 remains the greatest ever World Cup.
Nearly two decades on, Italian teacher and accredited football coach Guiliano Orrico is set to rekindle the romance of the competition with his “La Scuola di Calcio”, or school of soccer, every weekend in West Hampstead.
“What I do is I teach the boys Italian – we learn the language for one hour – then we go out and learn football,” he said.
“We had a good squad in 1990, but in the end we were beaten by Maradonna. After the World Cup, I came over to work as a full-time barber. But all I wanted to do was football.
“I have made some good friends here in England and I can communicate with everyone. Football is a discipline – it helps to build character.”
Guiliano, 40, who is a registered Football Association coach, has set up football schools across north London and, after working as a barber in Mill Lane, he is bringing his unique brand to West Hampstead.
He said he is hoping to secure a pitch in Fortune Green at weekends, but in the meantime will make do with running the school in the park there.
“Every child has a talent, but what they need is a competitive coach and semi-professional facilities,” Guiliano said. “There are facilities in London, but they could be improved. It is the same everywhere you go. There are businesses, property developers and councils that do not think about facilities when they build. Sometimes the money is more important to them.”
Guiliano said he was inspired by the “fantasists” – a term used in Italy to describe players who can control a game with their presence alone – and singled out Marco Tardelli (now coach of the Republic of Ireland), Diego Maradonna (now coach of Argentina) and Fabio Capello (now coach of England), as his inspirations.
Once regarded as the best league in the world, Italy’s Serie A was turned upside down in 2006 following a match-fixing scandal that saw Juventus stripped of the league title and relegated for bribing referees.
Guiliano, raised in the southern Calabria region – the toe of the Italian “boot” – said Italian politics is one of the reasons he left his homeland.
“In Italy I think they could develop their mentality a bit more,” he added. “They need to stop the power of politics from taking over. There is a lot of favouritism and if you don’t come from the right family you will not be seen.
“Your talent might not be realised and you don’t get the help you need. That is what I like about England. There is equal opportunity for everyone if you stay motivated.”
For more information on the Guiliano Orrico school of football call 07949 742272. |
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