From the coffee seller to the Euro Cup

After the surprise Belgium in the first game of European Cup (0-1), Francesco Calzona (10/24/1968, Vibo Valentia, Italy) has been the focus of the tournament and it looks like he will also take the win against Ukraine but they came back (1-2). Tomorrow is waiting for you Romania in a final match where a victory could classify them and a defeat could leave any team in the group as they all have three points. Seeing how the confrontations went Group Eany team (Belgium, Slovakia, Romania either Ukraine) is in position to reach the round of 16.

Far from Slovakia

This will be the third consecutive European appearance for Slovakia and Calzona It is planned to reach the round of 16 as the country reached in 2016. Even to do so with a player who was just relegated to Series B with the Ascoli and another did the same to UAE Pro League together even. On the way to qualifying, Slovakia twice lost to Portugal but finished in second place, ahead of Iceland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Luxembourg and Liechtenstein.

“Combining 25-30 players from at least 11 or 12 different leagues with different roles and mentality is the hardest part,” he explained. Calzona. “Getting everyone to think along the same lines and in a short amount of time is complicated.” And he added: “Naples This is my comfort zone, where everyone respects me and I don’t want to change anything but, because I like challenges, I accepted the challenge of Slovakia”.

In Series B

A young man thinks little Francesco 17 years old, starting in the world of football, who will one day lead a team in A series along with the history and traditions of Naples and I will include it in a classified selection for a European Cup. Wearing a shirt Arezzo in the 1986-87 season at Series B, he spent more time sitting on the bench listening to instructions and changes than playing on the pitch. He only participated in three games, as a midfielder, and retired. He believed that the world of football was not for him and he worked like any neighbor’s son. But once you’ve been bitten by the football sting, it’s hard to get rid of the ‘poison’.

The eternal helper

Calzones He hung up his boots and dedicated himself to working in the ever-evolving world of coffee. For a decade he built a professional future and because he could not stop thinking about football, he numbed his aspirations by playing in an amateur team in the sixth division at the age of 30, in Tegoletoa quarter of an hour from Arezzo. When he saw how well he directed the youngsters on the field, they offered him the position of player-coach. He refused. He didn’t seem ready and proposed to a good friend of his: Maurizio Sarri.

For Sarri This is his first experience as a coach and he loves it Calzona as an assistant. Next to Sarri they worked on Perugia (2008-09), at Alexandria (2010-11), the Sorrento (2010-11), the Empoli (2012-15) and for three years in Naples (2015-18). After the departure of Sarri of Naples, Calzones was assistant to Eusebio Di Francesco within Cagliari (2020-21) and then return to Naples (2021-22) as an assistant Luciano Spallettinow technical Italy and to whom Calzones He said he didn’t want to face it.

In the summer of 2022 he received an unexpected offer to lead the Slovak national team. The Italian candidacy was recommended to the legendary federation Marek Hamsikholding appearance records with the same Naples as in choice.

Return to Naples

For the third time and, this time, as head coach, Calzones took the reins of Naples last February to be replaced Walter Mazzarri (which has been replaced Rudy Garcia this past season) two days before facing the FC Barcelona in Champions League. Despite their efforts to try to qualify the team for a European competition, they finished tenth, far from the positions of Champions, Europa League and Conference. We hope that the experience gained in the European tournament, even if they do not reach the round of 16, will allow them to reach the key next season and return to Naples in leading positions in A series.