A Deep Loss for Coach Silvio Baldini: His Daughter Valentina Has Died

A great loss for the world of soccer. Valentina, the 30-year-old daughter of Silvio Baldini—coach of Italy’s Under-21 team and interim head coach of the national team—has passed away.

Silvio Baldini’s daughter had suffered from a severe form of spastic tetraparesis since birth. “Valentina taught me to love without expecting anything in return,” said her father recently, who always considered his daughter a true source of inspiration.

Countless messages of condolence and sympathy have poured in to the Baldini family following this heartbreaking loss. “President Luigi De Laurentiis, General Manager Pierpalo Marino, and the entire SSC Bari organization join the Baldini family in mourning the untimely passing of Valentina, daughter of Silvio Baldini, head coach of the Italian Under-21 national team. To her mother Paola, her family, and her loved ones, we extend the condolences and support of the entire Biancorossi family,” reads Bari’s message of condolence.

“AC Perugia Calcio expresses its condolences and heartfelt sympathy to Coach Silvio Baldini—head coach of the Italian Under-21 national team (and currently also of the senior national team) and former coach of the Grifoni—for the loss of his daughter Valentina. In this time of grief, the entire Perugia Calcio community stands in solidarity with Coach Baldini, his wife Paola, and the Baldini family,” read the post from Perugia, one of the teams previously coached by Silvio Baldini.