Nine months on after starting lessons, on 3 October, students on the UEFA Pro licence have completed their ‘Master’ programme, the highest recognised football coaching qualification in Europe.

The students. It was a class full of famous names from Italian football, starting with three World Cup winners in 2006: Marco Amelia, Andrea Barzagli and Daniele De Rossi, as well as 2012 Euro runner-up Antonio Nocerino. Among the group was current Monza Head Coach Raffaele Palladino, and Italy’s First Team match analyst Simone Contran. Also taking part in the UEFA Pro licence course this year was – among others - Alberto Aquilani, Francesco Farioli, Daniele Gastaldello and Matteo Paro, and Vincent Cavin, Switzerland’s Assistant Head Coach to Murat Yakin.

The teachers. Lessons at Coverciano ended today following a lengthy course with different teachers leading sessions and much more. Many famous Italian names came to speak and pass on their knowledge and experience to the students, such as Napoli’s title-winning Head Coach Luciano Spalletti, and former Liverpool and Real Madrid boss Rafa Benitez. Teachers for a day also included Inter, Lazio and Juventus Head Coaches Simone Inzaghi, Maurizio Sarri and Massimiliano Allegri, respectively, former Cremonese boss Massimiliano Alvini, and the current Brighton manager, Roberto de Zerbi.

In the lecture hall at Coverciano, the students got the opportunity to follow a lesson by one of World Football’s great coaches, Marcelo Bielsa, as well as the 2022 Qatar World Cup winning coach, Argentina’s Lionel Scaloni, to mark Italy’s Coach of the Year award ceremony. Also teaching were two successful Head Coaches from Italy’s volleyball team, Ferdinando De Giorgi and Gian Paolo Montali, to broaden the horizons for students and to look at other sports’ approaches.

The Vancouver Whitecaps Head Coach, Vanni Sartini, spoke about his experiences in North America and in the MLS, and former Fiorentina and Italy Under-15 manager Patrizia Panico discussed the Women’s game.

Work experiences. As well as having lessons, the students also got the chance to go on four visits to see Italian and European squads train and discuss with the staff and Head Coaches various related issues. In nine months, the students went to watch Igor Tudor’s Olympique Marseille, Thiago Motta’s Bologna, Paulo Sousa’s Salernitana and Raffaele Palladino’s Monza.

After the summer break, the students will return to the Federal Technical Centre in Coverciano to carry out their final exams, where they will undergo a speaking examination on all the course’s subject matters, as well as present and discuss their thesis.

The full list of participants. Below is the list of all the students who took part in this year’s Master:
Marco Amelia, Alberto Aquilani, Andrea Barzagli, Luca Belingheri, Vincent Cavin, Simone Contran, Manuel Cordeiro, Emilio De Leo, Daniele De Rossi, Daniele Di Donato, Francesco Farioli, Daniele Gastaldello, Manuel Iori, Abdoulay Konko, Filippo Lorenzon, Antonio Nocerino, Raffaele Palladino, Matteo Paro, Bruno Trocini, Felice Tufano and Gennaro Volpe.