he first time your correspondent visited

Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio football

club at their Zingonia training centre, just

outside the Lombardy town of Bergamo,

I encountered some very interesting folks.

The year was 1993 and the club’s coach

at the time was a dashing young man

called Marcello Lippi, someone clearly

headed for the top.

Lippi’s Atalanta had just had the

effrontery to beat Juventus 2-1 in

Bergamo. Then, as now, “provincials”

hardly ever beat Juve. Present that

day was striker Maurizio Ganz, who

T

CLUB

FOCUS