Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 14 April 1960 | ||
Place of birth | Naples, Italy | ||
Date of death | 6 October 2022 | (aged 62)||
Place of death | Naples, Italy | ||
Managerial career | |||
Years | Team | ||
1994–1999 | Juventus (athletic trainer) | ||
2001–2004 | Juventus (athletic trainer) | ||
2004–2006 | Italy (athletic trainer) | ||
2007–2009 | Bari (athletic trainer) | ||
2009–2010 | Atalanta (athletic trainer) | ||
2010–2011 | Siena (athletic trainer) | ||
2012–2014 | Ajaccio (assistant coach) | ||
2014–2015 | Catania (athletic trainer) | ||
2016–2017 | Jiangsu (athletic trainer) | ||
2019–2021 | Guangzhou (athletic trainer) | ||
2021–2022 | Tottenham Hotspur (athletic trainer) |
Gian Piero Ventrone (14 April 1960 – 6 October 2022) was an Italian athletic trainer.
An ISEF-qualified teacher, [1] he started his career in 1994, as athletic trainer for Marcello Lippi's Juventus until 1999 and from 2001 and 2004. [2] Once his Juventus experience ended, he collaborated with Lippi in the preparation for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, won by Italy. [3] [4] He continued at Atalanta from September 2009 to January 2010. [5] He worked with Antonio Conte at Bari and Siena [6] and with Fabrizio Ravanelli, a player he trained at Juventus, as an assistant coach at Ajaccio. [6] He had been athletic trainer at Catania, Jiangsu and at Fabio Cannavaro's Guangzhou in the 2017–18 season, before joining his friend Conte at Tottenham Hotspur in November 2021. [7] [4]
When Ventrone joined Juventus, he brought 43 computers for the pursuit of perfection in every exercise and tools no one had ever used. [8] He made the players train by making them listen to the music of Queen and of Nirvana. [8] He gave the players a bell called the "bell of shame"; those who were exhausted would ring it. [8] He explained its use with, "in this sport there is no limit". [8]
Ventrone was nicknamed " marine" for his very hard and tiring training sessions. [9] His rhythms and workloads knocked out a number of professional athletes. [7] [10] Images of Harry Kane collapsing and vomiting and Son Heung-min almost fainting and lying agonising on the ground in a summer preparation in Seoul went viral. [7] Alessio Tacchinardi, who was coached by Ventrone, considered Ventrone "a good sergeant, a reference point for everyone and a jackhammer". [8]
Ventrone was born in Naples on 14 April 1960. [7] He took part in the 1st San Marco Regiment. [8] During his military service, he took a refresher course in America with the United States Army Special Forces. [1] When Lippi left Juventus in 1999, he remained in Turin. [8]
On the evening of 4 October 2022, Ventrone was taken to the Fatebenefratelli hospital in Naples and put into a coma for mechanical ventilation. [7] A few days earlier, he learned he had acute myeloid leukemia. [7] His death occurred at 6:45 on 6 October due to a brain haemorrhage. [7] He was 62, [2] though reported to be 61 in some English sources. [4] [11] [12] [13] [14] His funeral was held three days later in the San Luigi Gonzaga church in Naples. [15] Conte, out of respect for him, did not hold a press conference for the game against Brighton on the day he died. [7] [11] Before the match, the Tottenham players warmed up wearing a shirt that read "Forever in our hearts". [16] During the minute's silence dedicated to him before the match, Conte cried. [17] Harry Kane dedicated his winning goal to him. [15]