I think if you were looking for the most dedicated person in the world to soccer, the answer would probably be Maurizio Sarri.
Failed footballers successful bankers
Born in 1959 in Nablus, Italy, Sarri grew up learning to play soccer on the street with his friends, dreaming of one day wearing the jersey of his hometown team, Napoli. But his dream was just a dream, and he had no talent on the soccer field. After several tryouts, no professional team was willing to give him a chance, let alone Napoli. His dream of playing soccer came to an end, so he went to Florence to become a banker at the Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (the oldest bank in the world).
In the eyes of Sarri's past colleagues, he is an outstanding banker. Despite having no financial background in the past, Sarri has always been persistent, learning from scratch, analyzing with precision, and accumulating experience over and over again, making him more and more successful, which has led to job opportunities in financial towns such as London, Zurich, and Luxembourg.
The Making of a Superstar Coach
Despite having found his niche in the financial world, Sarri has never forgotten his love for soccer. He spent all his free time after work studying soccer tactics, and in 1990 he began coaching an amateur team in Italy's seventh tier on a part-time basis. At this time, Sarri had already demonstrated his amazing ability to read the game, and led the team to promotion by using the 352 formation and zone defense, the prototype of the current SarriBall, which had never been seen before in this level of soccer. Not only that, he also developed 33 set-piece plays, earning him the title of Mr. 33. And these 33 sets of tactics, until today's top game, or by him to continue to use.
Sarri once said, "I'd rather wear a tracksuit to work than a formal suit". So in 2000, at the age of 41, Sarri decided to give up his banker's salary and secure life to devote himself to his favorite sport, soccer. He took over the reins of A.C. Sansovino in the Italian D-League and became a full-time soccer coach, hoping to make a name for himself in the highest echelons of the world's soccer world someday. It was a big gamble, but he told himself, "Soccer is my love, and coaching soccer is the only job I'm willing to do without a paycheck. Such dedication is perhaps the reason why Sarri has made a name for himself in both the banking and soccer worlds.
Over the next ten years, Sarri slowly climbed up the ranks from Italy's D-League to the B-League, getting closer and closer to his dream. 2012 saw him become the head coach of the then B-League's Empoli, leading the team to fourth place in their first year after being on the brink of relegation the previous year. Empoli's president Fabrizio Corsi praised Sarri's high-pressure defense, fast-paced and fluid attacking style of soccer, praising him as a doctor of soccer and believing that his understanding and interpretation of the game far exceeded that of the teams and players in this tier, and Sarri did not let Corsi down, and was promoted to the second place of the league the following year. This was Sarri's first taste of First Division soccer and he was already 55 years old.
Two cities cheered him on.
In the 2015-16 season, Napoli, whose record has been declining year after year, approached Sarri as the new head coach, and his childhood dream finally came true. But it's important to realize that Napoli
It's not easy to please Napoli fans, who once had a legendary player like Diego Maradona, and it's not easy at all to make dreams come true while at the same time, you have to keep on trembling with fear and trepidation. However, Sarri, who has been sharpening this sword for 30 years, has already prepared for this. SarriBall has swept through the Boxing League in a whirlwind fashion, and Napoli has been striving for the Champions League every year, and even though they have missed out on it in the end, Napoli has stabilized itself as one of the top teams in Juventus in recent years, thanks to his transformation.
(The second most powerful force in the Yijia stable after Juventus, Sarri has truly become a hometown hero.
Sarri leads Chelsea to Europa League final in the early hours of 30 am Taiwan time
(Chelsea) 4:1 defeat Arsenal (Arsenal), finally in the age of 60 years, to carry the first trophy. Not just Chelsea in London
The fans cheered him on, as did the fans far away in Nablus. It's been 30 years on the road, from banker to Europa League champion, and all the sacrifices and hard work seem to be in plain sight as Sarri looks at the medal in his hands.
