08 March 2024
Giuseppe Zappella will start life on the Juventus Women bench with a big test - he takes the reins for the first time for the second leg of the Bianconere's Italian Cup semi-final tie against Fiorentina. The Bianconere have a 1-0 deficit to overturn in Biella on Saturday.
Looking ahead to the game, Zappella sat down for his first pre-match interview in what is his tenth year at the club.
“I had a past life as a footballer, I had a career that I’m proud of despite never reaching Serie A. During my career I got to know Stefano Braghin, I was his captain and our relationship of real trust has continued since then. It was he who called me to join Juventus, and I began my journey with the club about ten years ago now. In this time I’ve learned the Juventus spirit very well, and come to know exactly what “fino alla fine” means.
“I was lucky enough to join as Head Coach of the Under 16s, and then I joined Fabio Grosso as his assisted with the Primavera side. I then followed him to Bari for his first taste of professional football. But after my time in Puglia I came back to Juventus for a new role and was involved with working as part of the Academy project, which takes Juventus all over the world.
“Juventus really is an all-round club, attentive to everything and, as a result, the overseas markets and the opportunities within them. I had the best years of my life with the Academy, and spent three years in Vietnam running a Juventus Academy, which was an intense but beautiful time in my life.
“Unfortunately the pandemic changed my plans a bit, but I came back here to continue to work with the Academy. Then another call from Director Braghin came to take me into a new world of women’s football. I was delighted to get involved because I was missing this experience [of first-team football]. Women’s football is a world full of emotions and, more than anything, it is football through and through.”
The entire interview is available, in Italian, on Juventus TV.
