John Galeone has died, he was 84: soccer in mourning

Giovanni Galeone has died at the age of 84, triggering deep mourning in the entire world of Italian soccer and beyond. Born Jan. 25, 1941, in Naples, Italy, he was universally regarded as one of the great masters among Italy’s successive coaches. This is demonstrated by the fact that, by a curious quirk of fate, on the very day of his passing, Milan v Roma is scheduled to face each other on the bench of two of his historic pupils: Massimiliano Allegri and Gian Piero Gasperini.

Galeone passed away Sunday in his very own Pescara, where he had been hospitalized for more than a month. As ‘Il Centro’ states, he was undergoing dialysis. Allegri himself, whom the coach also known as ‘The Prophet’ coached in biancazzurro and also wanted with him in Perugia and Napoli, had recently visited him. And the same goes for Gasperini, but also Giampaolo, Massara and Goretti.

Central midfielder in a career that saw him play between 1957 and 1974 (particularly long was his experience at Udinese, whose jersey he wore for eight seasons), Galeone began coaching in the same year, becoming deputy precisely for the Bianconeri. Already in the following year he became head coach at Pordenone, and then began a career that broke through the 30-year wall and ended in 2007, curiously enough, precisely with a final return to Pozzo’s Friulians.

Celebrated for the four promotions from Serie B to A won during his career (one with Perugia and Udinese itself, two with Pescara, which remains the team that symbolizes his way of seeing soccer), Galeone has entered the history of Italian soccer and the collective imagination of fans for his cultured and calm ways, but above all for the offensive, zone, trident-based game and marked by enhancing the technical skills of his players that has always distinguished him. He had also coached Spal, Como, Napoli and Ancona.