Federico Gatti He once worked as a bricklayer and played soccer only at night. He is now taking Giorgio Chiellini’s place as a bastion in Juventus’ defence.
Gatti made the most of his 1.90 meter height to head home the only goal in Juventus’ 1-0 victory over Napoli, the current champion of the Italian league.
Rising to connect with Andrea Cambiaso’s cross, Gatti easily surged past Napoli captain Giovanni Di Lorenzo and Amir Rrahmani and redirected the ball towards the far post.
It was the third goal of the season for Gatti – the leader among defenders in the Italian league. He also scored in the final minutes of the 2-1 win over Monza last week.
“Federico is an example for all of us”said Danilo, Juventus captain. “He had to go through some tough times, but he stayed strong.”
From bricklayer to professional footballer
Federico Gatti is 25 years old and from a very young age he faced significant challenges on his path to professionalism. Originally from the lower divisions of Torino and Alessandria, Gatti was forced to working as a bricklayer, making windows or repairing roofs when his father lost his job. “My father lost his job and I had to reciprocate the efforts he made for me. I worked as a bricklayer, making windows or repairing roofs. It started at dawn and was hard but formative. “I worked and played to make up for it.”he commented in an interview in the Italian newspaper La Gazzetta.
His football career included a spell with Eccelenza, a fifth division team, before joining Verbania in Serie D. In 2020, he signed for Pro Patria in Serie C, where his team reached the play-offs to be promoted. to Serie B but was defeated by Juventus U23. Later, in 2021, the Frosinone of Serie B acquired him for 100,000 euros. His outstanding performance earned him the title of “Best Center in Serie B” in the first half of the season. Although clubs like Napoli and Torino showed interest, It was Juventus who finally acquired him for 7.5 million euros.
La Vecchia Signora jumped to the top
Juventus took the lead in Serie A with a one-point advantage over Inter Milan, which hosts Udinese on Saturday.
Napoli, who have not scored in three of their last four Serie A games, fell to fifth place, 12 points behind Juventus.
Including the defeat to Real Madrid in the Champions League, Napoli have won one game and lost three since Walter Mazzari replaced Rudi Garcia as Partenopei coach.
Napoli’s dribbling wizard Khvicha Kvaratskhelia inexplicably missed a clear scoring chance in the first half.
After hitting the post minutes earlier, Juventus forward Dusan Vlahovic left with an apparent injury in the second half.