The time is running towards May 25, the day on which Gianpaolo Pozzo will cross the milestone of eighty years. We celebrate the anniversary a little in advance, as if to prevent the chorus of good wishes from which the character, especially for what he did with Udinese, will be overwhelmed.
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Paradoxically, the feeling emerges that it is outside the Friulian borders that its prestige and authority find unconditional approval: everywhere in the world the events of Udinese Calcio arouse curiosity and surprise, for the sporting results, but even more for the ability to keep the balance sheets in order and to carry on a basically calm navigation in the stormy and treacherous sea of today’s football.
The great boss, however, also love the Friulians, and God forbid, perhaps with some recurring grumbling, aware however that with paròn Pozzo on the deck of the ship Udinese has become an important and significant reality in the events of international football.
It may seem like a small detail, but, as a Friulian, going around the world to tell football stories, I am pleased that I no longer have to say that my homeland was “near Venice”, near Venice , because the Udinese companies had taught everyone where our beloved Little Homeland was. And this, of course, is another gift that Pozzo has given us. If you then want to list all the other merits acquired, there would be an infinite number of numbers to show off, starting with the very long stay at the top of Udinese calcio, who took over from Lamberto Mazza in 1986 and has remained in the saddle ever since.
For Udinese, the last Serie B championship dates back to 1994-’95 since then it has always played in Serie A, as only the two Milanese and the two Roman ones have been able to do.
But, as already mentioned, it is practically impossible to put together everything that should be attributed to Pozzo senior, starting with the incredible number of great players made to arrive and mature in Udine. With him, however, to impersonate the symbol and the tutelary deity of the Juventus club, to underline the functional presence of the other family members, starting with his son Gino, very good at looking after the fate of Granada first and Watford now, with a return to the English Premier, but also of his wife Linda attentive to solidarity aspects and to his daughter Magda. And what about that little stadium jewel that, with tenacity and overcoming the thousand bureaucratic obstacles, was given to Udine? We can only close with a heartfelt thanks to the eighty-year-old GP Pozzo. Always present, in the offices of the company or on the training fields, a reassuring presence and an attentive guardian so that everything goes for the best.
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