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Federico Gatti worked in construction.
During the day, he makes bricks and roofs. When the nights came, he found the strength to play football on the dirt, often foggy, pitches near Rivoli, the town west of Turin where he grew up.
Gatti comes from a family of Torino fans. They would have loved to see him play for their club. But when Gatti left school and put his hard hat on, a job anywhere in Serie A seemed impossible.
It has been almost two years since he visited his estranged grandfather, Domenico, who lives near Juventus’ stadium in the north of Turin. At the time, Gatti was playing in Italy’s second division for Frosinone, which is an hour’s drive southeast of Rome. He will be coming north again as top flight Torino are close to signing him. A dream come true for the family.
“When I recommend a player, the club must go and buy him,” Torino coach Ivan Juric said.
In his anger, Gatti did not join them. When he came out of Nonno’s house, Gatti had just finished a medical with the city of Juventus.
“He’s now their player,” Juric cried. “As a club, we have to improve the way we communicate internally. It’s not often that a player emerges this good from the lower levels.”
As soon as Gatti put down his towel and put the concrete to rest, he began to rise in groups in Italy. The 25-year-old has played in all positions; amateur, semi-pro, Serie D, C and B.
When Roberto Mancini handed him his first cap against England at Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Molineux in June last year, he had yet to play in Italy’s top flight.
Gatti’s story commemorates Moreno Torricelli, an installer in a furniture factory who stood in a match between semi-pro Caratese and Juventus in the summer of 1992. Giovanni Trapattoni, the coach of Juventus at the time, asked him if he wanted to train with his team during the rest of the season.
Roberto Baggio, the Ballon d’Or winner, gave Torricelli the nickname Geppetto, after the carpenter in Pinocchio. And these are the things of history, because Torricelli won a full-time contract and much, much more.
He lifted the UEFA Cup (today’s Europa League) at the end of that first season, the Serie A title three times in four seasons from 1994-95, the Coppa Italia in 1995 and 2001, and the Champions League and Club World Cup in 1996. He also played 10 times for Italy, making their squad for Euro 96 and the World Cup two years later.
Gatti’s climbing is more measured, less vertigo-inducing. He didn’t come completely from nowhere.
The player of Frosinone Guido Angelozzi, who went on that train north with Gatti in January 2022 apparently to seal the deal with Torino, tried to sell him. “Federico is like (Giorgio) Chiellini, with the legs of (Leonardo) Bonucci,” he said.
The hyperbole worked. Juventus agreed a deal worth €10 million (£8.6m / $10.8m at current exchange rates) and loaned Gatti back to Frosinone for the rest of the 2021-22 season.
(Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
When he arrived at the new club’s stadium for the first time, Gatti’s father Ludovico said Chiellini greeted him by saying: “This is my heir.” The one who was ordained was Cristian Romero. Then Matthijs de Ligt, then Merih Demiral. But all were bought to bring money when Juventus’ finances were disrupted by Cristiano Ronaldo’s contract and the Covid-19 disease.
Whether Gatti will continue to get a similar job to Chiellini remains to be seen. It may be another construction period; it’s hard to think about it now as he imagined himself having a career in the game at that time. But Gatti is already, if not a symbol of this Juventus team, then a cultist.
Last Friday, when the Monza team was level at the break, it looked like Juventus would go down by two points. Only Gatti wasn’t finished. In the 94th minute, he stepped up and scored a victory. One of those moments that could, in retrospect, look important if Juventus were to become champions again in May.
“What can I say,” Gatti gasped and panicked, trying to catch his breath after running to the back end. “I don’t know. It’s an unbelievable feeling to score such a big goal”.
And last night, he was at it again. Call Gatti-gol.
A player from humble origins, whose CV includes the famous clubs Pavarolo, Saluzzo and Verbania, led the victory against the champion Napoli to send Juventus back to the top of Serie A.
Only the Leverkusen duo of Alex Grimaldo (seven) and Jeremie Frimpong and Union Berlin, former Atalanta wingback Robin Gosens (two four) have scored more against defenders than Gatti’s three this season. season in Europe’s top five leagues.
The defense is currently Juventus’ best attack.
Federico Chiesa has not scored for his club since September. His partner Dusan Vlahovic had a penalty saved against Monza and threatened Juventus’ first chance against Napoli. Moise Kean is goalless and needs to be replaced at the end of October after frustration with two goals disallowed against Verona. Arkadiusz Milik is not as good as he was in this position last season.
Fortunately, five of Juventus’ last eight goals came from defenders. Bremer and Daniele Rugani took care of business against Cagliari last month and Andrea Cambiaso’s 96th minute winner against Verona counted, unlike Kean.
The defense is making the difference in both boxes, and tHis win made Juventus’ ninth in 15 games. They conceded few goals in the box to Europe’s top five. Five of the nine goals they scored came from outside. Four came in one match at Sassuolo, on a September night when everything that could go wrong went wrong: Wojciech Szczesny made a rare mistake, unable to stop the start of Armand Lauriente. As for Gatti, he scored a ridiculous goal late on to leave his confidence in tatters as Juventus lost for the only time this season.
Both players have since recovered. Szczesny, for example, made a great save in a 0-0 draw from Olivier Giroud in a 1-0 win against Milan at San Siro in October. On Friday, he did the same thing again, denying Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo from close range with strong hands. Gatti now countered that same goal with a series of great moments to strengthen the confidence in the Juventus team that could be their year.
The coach of Juventus Massimiliano Allegri continues to say that the aim is only to finish high to return the club to the Champions League. But his players are straying from the party line.
After the 1-1 draw with Inter Milan in the Derby d’Italia two weeks ago, Adrien Rabiot, one of Allegri’s captains, said: “The goal, my The goal, what we talk to ourselves in the dressing room, is the Scudetto, because we are a group of champions, great players, and we have to think like that.
(Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images)
Instead of arrogance, the humility of this side is remarkable. Juventus lost operator — blue-collar — soul in Ronaldo years at the end of the decade. This is a part that workers at one of Turin’s Fiat factories can get to know.
Weston McKennie touched it after last night’s game.
Everyone on his side of the pitch came through with difficulties. Gatti worked on a construction site for 17 years. Cambiaso, the cross for his goal, also played in Serie D and overcame a serious knee injury suffered in 2019. McKennie seems to have no future at the club. He was loaned out to Leeds United for the second half of last season, was suspended from the Premier League and, at first, did not look like he would be in the squad for the tournament. Juventus’ first this summer.
Naturally, the chaos of last year caused Andrea Agnelli and his board to resign and to lose points, suspended and withdrawn from making letters and creating this team.
Whether Juventus can go the distance remains to be seen. Their suspension from European football will help in terms of game preparation and they will not lose one of their stars in the Africa Cup of Nations, which will be held for a month from mid-January.
Allegri is telling the team to stay in the moment and not go too far. But the signs are good.
Juventus have laid the groundwork to challenge for this title.
Gatti and his team must build on them, brick by brick.
(Top photo: Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC/Getty Images)