The Italian women’s volleyball team celebrates the gold and those who helped them achieve it: it’s not just a question of who took to the field, but of who chose and motivated those girls. Up to an incredible victory: only one set lost in all the games of the Olympic Games and an undeserved medal. More. Julio Velasco he is enjoying this success at 72 years old: he has won everything, but the Olympics were missing. Or rather, rephrasing the sentence: he has won everything with volleyball. In football he tried even without succeeding. But somehow he left his mark.
There are two parentheses that saw him as the protagonist in his own way: one in 1998 as general manager of the Laziofor just over a year; the other in 2000at Inter, in the staff of Marcello Lippi. The experience in black and blue was negative for everyone, Velasco included. The one at Lazio lasted less than he himself would have expected, but in some way he is remembered. “He had never played football, but he transmitted a culture of respect that deserved and deserves to be underlined”. The voice is that of Igor Prottiwho spent that season at Lazio for only three months, before moving to Reggina. “It’s something you either have or you don’t have: he couldn’t and didn’t want to intervene from a technical point of view, but he often came to watch the training sessions of Erikssonbut above all it was his ability to interact with the group that made him different. You could see that he had played team sports at very high levels, and this goes beyond football”.
And then there was an episode that had struck him deeply: “When I was about to say goodbye to the Laziohe told me he was really sorry. He found my behavior very healthy within the group, he told me that working with people like that was always stimulating”. Unexpected, but genuine. Back from Parishe and his entire team were welcomed in triumph. He probably didn’t expect that much attention either. “What will I do now? Let’s see…” Velasco said. In the meantime, he is enjoying the gold and the fame that comes from a long and varied path. And with deviations that have enriched him.
