In 1984 the opportunity arrived to play in Reggio Emilia with the then ACF Reggiana, who played in the Serie B championship. «The years at Reggiana I grew up with friends and teammates. In the third season after my arrival we won promotion to Serie A ». A historic promotion for the team that leaves to move to Prato, but only for a year. On the return to Reggio the championship victory with 12 points ahead of the second. Then there are many teams in which he plays from Bologna to Monza, from Modena to Pisa, but he remembers with particular warmth the year in Sassari: «The year in Sardinia made me discover the beauty of the Sardinians, to know what the real sea means. In terms of discoveries it was the most significant ».
In the National team from footballer to coach
The debut in the national team at the age of 24 takes place in a game that has remained epic in the history of the Italians. Italy faced England in a friendly match played for the first time at Wembley stadium in front of eighty thousand spectators. The Italian national team left the field with a 4-1 victory thanks to the four goals scored by Carolina Morace. Bertolini remembers that day: «We entered huge changing rooms that only the month before had been Madonna’s dressing room on the occasion of her concert. I came from the changing rooms of the parishes, which maybe even had carpets on the floor. Our match was before the English Cup final and the stadium was full “underlines Bertolini, then recalling another debut in the national team, the one as a coach:” The debut as a player was more unaware, while the my debut as a coach at the World Cup was very experienced inside because it was the result of years of work and sacrifice ». Years that I saw the year training and at the same time working: “During the day I worked in an environmental design cooperative and in the evening I trained, then I started coaching the youth teams and being a sports columnist” he says, adding: “I trained from 5-year-olds to an excellent first team. I came to coach the national team in 2017 at the age of 51, after 30 years of apprenticeship ».
An important milestone in a time of strong change for Italian women’s football. It was time to make the movement make a qualitative leap and the national team did its part. «When you coach a club you have a daily routine, you don’t have it in the national team. The difficulty lies in summarizing their qualities and finding the right solution to make them perform at their best with little time “underlines Bertolini, who adds:”The sense of responsibility in the national team he is much higher because he represents the country and at the moment he represents the women’s football movement: the national team does not do well if the clubs do not work well and if the national team does well the clubs do not earn. It is a virtuous cycle ».
A virtuous cycle that accelerated with the qualification of Italy to the World Cup in France 2019 after twenty years of absence and the positioning of the blue among the eight strongest teams in the world. But in addition to the results on the pitch, they have conquered other aspects of this team: «The team expressed a beautiful football, made of technique, harmony and elegance, imbued with sporting values that touch your soul. Our characteristics were not giving up on every ball, sacrifice, living things together. This struck those who followed us. The group was made up of athletes who grew up together and had a common goal: to make themselves known, assert their rights and take their world with them, what they had lived. This is the strength they have had. For them, participating in the World Cup was a dream, pure happiness: full stadiums, cheering, feeling considered as athletes, feeling valued, followed by the media “recalls Bertolini who adds:” It takes a lot of passion and you have to believe in what you does. We were all focused on the same goal. The common good was in the first place, in this way we get more than the sum of the individualities ».
And the post world cup? «The first club matches created some imbalances, but we come from a football played in front of no one. It was not difficult to readjust to the sense of reality. But things are changing fast. This also brings risks. «Now that there are economic resources and sports clubs are investing in women’s football, men’s coaches are coming. There are many good women who, however, are not taken into consideration because those who decide are male managers. There is the prejudice that women know less from a tactical point of view and are more mothers. It is actually important to have female coaches and managers because women’s football can contaminate men’s football with its characteristics: spirit of sacrifice, correctness, fair play. Men’s football is dominated by other logics ».