The funeral celebrated in Ascoli with a church and a crowded square. “This is a family, made up of many cities, that recognizes Carlo as a father,” said Bishop Palmeri. Among others, Cappioli, Muzzi, Pagliuca, Candela, Giovanni Galli, Nicolini and Novellino were present
– Ascoli Piceno
Carletto Mazzone has been a lot of life, a lot of football, a lot of Italy. The umpteenth demonstration came a little while ago in Ascoli’s “his of him” who said hello to him in a funeral that filled not only the church of San Francesco but also the amazing beauty of Piazza del Popolo. “He was the coach of all the teams”, said Alessandro Calori on the steps of the church, the man of the legendary Perugia-Juve 1-0 under a storm, the moment in which he – Carletto, Roman and Romanist doc – handed over the 2000 Scudetto to Lazio. “This is a family made up of many cities that recognizes Carlo as a father”, said Bishop Gianpiero Palmeri as he opened the religious function. Andrea Tanchi, the priest who followed the last days of the coach with his family in 797 games on the bench, remembered him in his ability to “unite everyone, a far-sighted, always capable of looking beyond. He was a person with a capital P as a coach, educator, uncle, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather. Carlo was passion”. In the front row, the whole family around Mazzone’s wife, Maria Pia, met by the post office in front of the appliance store where she worked. “Sixty years of marriage, what a beauty!” the priest continued. While the archbishop emeritus Pietro Coccia spoke of Mazzone as “an honest, free, never conditioned man. A great “generator” of players”. Some were present in the audience of San Francesco. There was his historic “second”, Leonardo Menichini. “Fourteen years together on the bench and four as a player”. Another colleague, Serse Cosmi, recalled Mazzone’s great teaching: “Never bow your head, believe in what you do”.
on holy Monday
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It was then the mayor Marco Fioravanti’s turn to underline that “Carlo Mazzone will never leave Ascoli, we will always remember him. He was a man of other times, never out of time”. The last words were those of the grandchildren, who remembered their grandfather with emotion, especially that unbeatable rule that not even a signing from Real Madrid could have betrayed: Mondays at home, dedicated to the family. A Monday, however, related to endless nights because as soon as he got home Mazzone didn’t want to go to bed to watch the games on TV, recorded by his wife’s love and patience. “He was the coach of so many teams, in every city we go to they remind us of an anecdote about him. But above all he was the coach of our family,” said the eldest granddaughter, Vanessa. And Alessio recalled the Sundays when he no longer coached when he questioned his grandfather in front of the TV. “I was asking him what would you have done? Who would you have put?”. “It is generally said that when a person dies, he leaves a void, but I feel filled with all the affection he has left us,” concluded Iole.
of all
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There was all the geography of his teams. On the coffin the number 1 shirt of Ascoli with the inscription Carletto. Outside many black and white flags and the “Thank you for everything” chorus. Then the shirts of Perugia, Brescia, Roma with its delegation and Massimiliano Cappioli, one of the goalscorers of Zeman’s famous 3-0 against Lazio. And yet the banner of Fiorentina, that of Bologna. Another “Mazzonian”, Roberto Muzzi, headed the Cagliari delegation. Among others, there were also Gianluca Pagliuca, Vincent Candela, Giovanni Galli, Enrico Nicolini, Walter Novellino, who recalled “the nights in San Benedetto del Tronto talking about tactics”.
fluff and ideas
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In short, the coach of many became at some point the coach of all. The symbol of a fascinating and difficult profession. “Carle’ you have to invent an idea”, the great Fuffo Bernardini had told him one day in a classroom in Coverciano, when Mazzone was still an aspiring technician in front of the master. After quite a lot of years, it must be said that Carlo Mazzone has come up with a lot of ideas. And he didn’t keep it to himself. And this is the thing that matters most.
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