Who was Helenio Herrera? “A unique man. Elusive, irreducible, unwavering. Light years ahead of everything: like him, one is born every century”. Fiora Gandolfi, born in 1936, comes from a wealthy and cultured Treviso family (“but at home they spoke Venetian”), she studied with the Montessori method, French schools, language faculty at the University of Rome. He lives in Venice a stone’s throw from San Marco and Rialto, in a 15th century building “raped by bed & breakfast”. She is a conceptual artist, photographer, writer, journalist, painter, stylist, costume designer. Wife of the greatest football coach of all time: Helenio the Magician, creator of that Inter that began with Sarti, Burgnich, Facchetti and ended with Suarez, Corso. The squadron that dominated the world in the early 1960s. Thanks to him: Herrera. How did you meet him? “It was 1969. I was interviewing art figures like David Hockney and Sonia Delaunay for the newspaper. They asked me for someone from football in Rome. Giorgio Tosatti from Corriere dello Sport suggested Herrera. I didn’t know anything about him. He coached the Giallorossi: I started with the 500 for Grottaferrata “. First impact? “I was expecting a picturesque guy, but he was elegant and courteous. The grease on his hair. We sat in an ugly bar near the field and talked ….
Who was Helenio Herrera?
“A unique man. Elusive, irreducible, unwavering. Light years ahead of everything: like him, one is born every century”.
Fiora Gandolfi, born in 1936, comes from a wealthy and cultured family from Treviso (“but at home they spoke Venetian”), he studied with the Montessori method, French schools, faculty of Languages at the University of Rome. He lives in Venice a stone’s throw from San Marco and Rialto, in a 15th century building “raped by bed & breakfast”. She is a conceptual artist, photographer, writer, journalist, painter, stylist, costume designer. Wife of the greatest football coach of all time: Helenio the Magician, creator of that Inter that began with Sarti, Burgnich, Facchetti and ended with Suarez, Corso. The squadron that dominated the world in the early 1960s. Thanks to him: Herrera.
How did you meet him?
“It was 1969. I was interviewing art figures like David Hockney and Sonia Delaunay for the newspaper. They asked me for someone from football in Rome. Giorgio Tosatti from Corriere dello Sport suggested Herrera. I didn’t know anything about him. He coached the Giallorossi: I started with the 500 for Grottaferrata “.
First impact?
“I was expecting a quaint guy, but he was elegant and courteous. The grease on his hair. We sat in a bad bar near the field and talked. He said a sentence in perfect French and this struck me: how strange, I thought. We started dating. “.
Was it the red lady for the newspapers?
“I didn’t even look at them. He phoned to apologize for the inappropriate publicity. A gallantry.”
There were 26 years of difference between you.
“But imagine, I didn’t pay attention to it. At his death I found a document: the date of birth was 1910, not 1916 as per passport. By mistake the zero had become a six in the transcription. Of course he played on the misunderstanding. I corrected the engraving on the tombstone with a felt-tip pen. He is buried in San Michele, near Ezra Pound’s tomb. The ashes are in an urn in the shape of a Champions Cup wrapped in Nerazzurri scarves. “
Fabulous stories are told about its origins.
“He was born on an island in the Rio della Plata or the Tigre. A very poor family from Argentina. His father Paco from Seville was a carpenter. His mother Maria got by with the humblest jobs, there was a time when he went to the service from an aristocratic English family: Helenio learned that tea is taken at five o’clock “.
Did they go back to Europe?
“They landed in Casablanca, in a hut built by their father. He was a worker, warehouse worker, turner, charcoal burner. He played football, his passion: in the evening he loaded the goalposts and brought them back home, to prevent them from being stolen” .
Experiences that mark?
“Those born poor know the value of money. Becoming famous, he demanded compensation never seen before in football. Today’s coaches must thank him: Mourinho is the one who most resembles him in spirit and intelligence. His ability to smell remained with him from his youth. thieves: in life and in football “.
Did he go to street college?
“He studied and learned. France, Spain: he became a football scientist who revolutionized with his own rites and formulas. Sorcerer, psychologist, philosopher, motivator. He used red and black pencils to write down the secrets in an invented language: the Esperanto of football. Mix of Andalusian, Arabic, French, English and Italian. I entrusted the notebooks to Facchetti, a pure player, the player he loved the most. “
The symbol of the great Inter built by him?
“Angelo Moratti had wanted him in Milan. He immediately imposed retreats, strict nutrition, signs and slogans in the changing rooms. He won everything”.
How did the players welcome him?
“He was either adored or hated. Mario Corso teased him calling him mona, he was in the president’s sleeve and Herrera pretended nothing had happened. He obtained a purge of others. Uncompromising with the troops, however, he understood that he had to concede something: he closed his eyes if he discovered a salami hidden in the closet. He let himself be fooled consciously, never betrayed “.
Did he apply the same Spartan methods to himself?
“Yoga, meditation and mental gymnastics with numbers. Macrobiotic. He did not drink or smoke. He was struck by Saint Ignatius of Loyola: he translated the spiritual exercises into retreats for the team”.
Was he a believer?
“He was not baptized but devoted to the Virgin of Guadalupe and Our Lady of Lourdes: two maternal figures. He spent a lot of time in churches where he could reflect. He walked alone looking for sky, water, earth and air. He was the fire”.
From the initials they called him talk Talk, speak speak.
“Not at all. He spoke little and listened in silence. Hands clasped like Escrivá de Balaguer, the founder of Opus Dei.”
Was he a magician?
“As a child he was hypnotized in front of healers who practiced white magic at the Casablanca market: they rubbed the paws of a chameleon and the wound disappeared. His Taca la bala, stay attached to the ball, recalls abracadabra. He was a magician.”
A magician?
“Very fast in action and thought, so much so that it was even annoying at times. When we returned home he preceded me by two flights of stairs: he unbuttoned his shirt and unlaced his shoes on the way up. Then he would spin under the shower. I arrived panting and found him at bed asleep. He didn’t waste a moment of his life. “
Did he have friends?
“Nobody. He thought about football, football was everything. But I accompanied him to the Trieste cemetery waiting in the car: he paid homage to Nereo Rocco, the Milan coach. There were two more different ones. But there was esteem and affection”.
Have you ever trained her?
“One day he took me to run to the Villa Borghese. Op, op, op, he urged. There was an obstacle: he jumps, he makes me. I jumped.”
How much did you love him?
“We found each other and recognized each other. United for almost thirty years with two children: Helios and Luna, adopted as a child. We were two irregular people who have always done, thought and said in their own way. I also respected her betrayals as long as they had quality. He liked women very much. “
What was Herrera’s last minute like?
“I was in Paris, Luna warned me of the heart attack. Call the ambulance immediately, I advised her. Helenio told the doctors to wait because she had to finish shaving. I called the hospital: come and get me, come and get me. She explained: l ‘ nurse has a big ass, big, and a heavy step, if he catches me an attack he won’t arrive in time. He was a coach even at that moment “.
Is his presence or absence?
“I feel him behind me, protector angel. We slept embraced: I miss that, his tenderness”.
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