Vicar returns to Friuli with Empoli: in the stands the Ukrainian family welcomed into his home

HISTORY

He was a regular guest at Friuli as a kid, when he went to the stadium with his father Michele. He followed Udinese and his idol was Samir Handanovic. In the Rizzi stadium he then took the field almost a year ago, on 21 April 2021. he won 1-0 with Cagliari, whose goal he defended from “twelfth” given the unavailability of Alessio Cragno. A season has passed and Guglielmo Vicario returns “home” as a protagonist. The player from Udine who grew up in Planis will be Empoli’s goalkeeper who will face the bianconeri tomorrow.

For the 25-year-old the one with the Zebretta will always be a special match, because he played in his Primavera team (in 2013-’14) before embarking on the path in football for the greats. This time it will be for another reason. In Friuli, in addition to his friends and parents, there will be little Milan, the Ukrainian child refugee from war that he has decided to host in his house in the city. A decision, that of the Vicar and his family, which had a national echo.

With Milan Guglielmo immediately established a good relationship: he gave him his Empoli shirt and, through it Google Translate, managed to communicate with him in the few days he stayed in Udine before leaving for Tuscany. Together with his mother Hanna, the little boy is still in the house in Planis, he is following the lessons in Dad of the school and has started playing football at the Bearzi with the team set up by Sandro Forte, disconnected from society and which brings together several boys. An experience that Milan will be able to tell Guglielmo will spend time with him and his family at Easter.

For the Udine goalkeeper, the season in progress is the season of consecration. Arriving in Empoli on loan from Cagliari, with whom he made his debut in the previous Serie A tournament, Vicario has so far played 32 games, often being the protagonist. He was also on the field from 1 ‘in the match against Udinese in the first round, played at Castellani and won by the biancazzurri 3-1. It was December 6, 2021. And it was Luca Gotti’s last challenge as a Friulian coach. A few days later the post of coach was entrusted to Gabriele Cioffi, a Florentine doc who will challenge Empoli for the first time as a coach. Vicario will look for the third success in a row against Udinese. Three points that would serve him, given that in 2022 they are dry of victories. It is true, I am one step away from salvation, but to celebrate it there are still a few steps away, perhaps to be taken in Friuli.

With Vicario and Empoli there will be another Friulian goalkeeper, the Sandanielese Jacopo Furlan, who played with the Biancazzurri in Lignano against Pordenone in Serie B 2020-’21. A few months ago, despite the defeat, Furlan, the “third” of the Tuscans, was one of the best in the field with Inter at San Siro in the first knockout round of the Italian Cup.