An evening to tell its story and recall anecdotes from the history of Italian women's football. National team coach Milena Bertolini, in Palazzo Soardi (Mantua) was the guest of the "A tutto sport" event, promoted by the Fare Cultura Association with the patronage of the City of Mantua and the CONI Lombardy Regional Committee. After an introduction by youth policy councillor Alessandra Riccadonna, Bertolini - in the meeting moderated by journalist Tiziana Pikler - recounted her career as a footballer to a room packed with young Mantova and Casalmartino athletes and several representatives of local football institutions.

"My generation and I emerged strengthened from the difficulties within which we grew up," says Bertolini. "Passion eventually prevailed over difficulty. That is why I say that women's football in Italy was not born in 2019 (when it took Italy back to the World Cup after 20 years, ed.), even if everyone only then became aware of us. If we have reached this point it is thanks to everything that came before. Membership of men's clubs should not be seen as an obligation but as an opportunity. The great opportunity for our football, talking about the base of our movement, is the possibility of being able to choose from more and more girls".

In a few weeks' time, the national team will begin its adventure ahead of the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, hoping to experience a summer similar to that of 2019 and less bitter than that of 2022. "Last year at the European Championship we ended up crushed by too many expectations but life on the field is mostly made up of defeats. We will try to make up for it."

Photo credit: Gabriele Conte