Giorgio Chiellini stops playing football. “It’s the right time.” At 37, after twenty-one career and a showcase full of trophies: 9 league titles, 5 Italian Cups, 5 Italian Super Cups and – last conquest – the European. The blue Gladiator – 116 appearances and 8 goals – has already set the stages of farewell. On Monday the last at the Stadium against Lazio, on June 1st the leave from the national team, in London, in the friendly against Argentina. A mastiff on the pitch, a gentle soul on the outside. Here are 10 things you don’t know about him.
The graduate footballer
After the scientific diploma obtained in Livorno (his city, even though he was born in Pisa), his worry was to graduate. He did it. Chiellini in 2010 graduated in economics and commerce from the University of Turin with 109/110. In 2017 he specialized with honors in Business Administration. For some years – always at Luiss – he has been following a managerial path.
Social commitment
He knows the world, he knows how it turns. And he is committed, at the forefront. Chiellini is testimonial of «Unsurpassed», An association that promotes play and parasport sports among young people with disabilities. The project was born in Turin in September 2012, taking inspiration from the English model Football For Disabled. As soon as he can he is there with them. «They are special kids who fill your heart, they make you understand what the true values ​​of life are.
The family
Married since 2014 – after four years of engagement – with Caterina Bonistalli, father of Nina and Olivia, respectively 7 and 3 years old. The two lead a very private life, they are rarely seen at public meetings, instead they prefer to spend time with their daughters, between amusement parks and family outings.
He has a twin brother
Dudu and Cacco are their nicknames, ever since they were little. Dudu is Giorgio Chiellini, Cacco is Claudio, they are the Chiellini brothers. Twins. The bond is very strong, so much so that Claudio also supports Giorgio in his entrepreneurial choices. They are the children of Fabio, a former javelin thrower, then a famous orthopedist, and of Lucia, an entrepreneur (she has a cellulose import-export company). Giorgio has two other “brothers”, Giulio and Silvia, the children that father Fabio had after the separation from his new partner.
Friends of the heart
They are Gigi, Leo, Andrea and Claudio. Or colleagues Buffon, Bonucci, Barzagli and Marchisio, pillars of Juve that dominated the decade 2010-2020. Among the most recently cultivated friendships that with the blue sprinter and Olympic champion in the relay race at Tokyo 2020 Filippo Tortu. Filippo is a huge fan of Juve and with Chiellini – thanks also to common interests outside sport – he has built a beautiful friendship.
Only Juve in the future (but maybe America first)
The debut in 2005, the farewell in 2022. Seventeen years of Juve. A whole career, with the exception of the start in Livorno and the debut in Serie A with Fiorentina.
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A real flag that – with a good chance – will not stop waving. Because Chiellini means identity and belonging and a managerial role – for him – is already ready. Unless Chiello decides – following the advice of his friend Ale Del Piero – to have an experience in MLS and discover America.
How many memes
His exultation – while beating his fists on his chest – has been defined as a “Gorilla” and Chiello has always joked about it with a lot of irony, posting it on social networks several times.
He also has a lot of fun when he finds some “memes”: the shirt pulled at Saka against England, the slap on the Spaniard Jordi Alba and above all the bite that Suarez gave him (but the episode deserves a separate chapter).
Suarez’s bite
2014 World Cup, Italy-Uruguay is played. Tense and nefarious match for the Azzurri, who were eliminated. The mother scene brings us back to Luis Suarez’s bite on Chiellini. A bite on the neck, during a scrum in the penalty area. All in all Chiello took it well: “I too am a great son of p on the pitch … and I’m proud of it: mischief is part of football, I don’t even call it impropriety”. A year ago the two even risked playing together for Juve (but then the deal with Suarez jumped).
Idols as a kid
Chiellini as a child cheered Milan and his idol was the great Paolo Maldini, who was for the flag of the Rossoneri. Giorgio also loves basketball very much and occasionally enjoys basketball: as kids he and his twin Claudio enrolled in a basketball school in Livorno, but then the passion for football prevailed. Among the players of today in his pantheon is the Spaniard Sergio Ramos, idol of Real Madrid today in force at PSG.
Still a lot of pasta
The shot on Instagram that caused a lot of discussion (and a lot of anger to the British). Chiello and Bonucci by the sea, in front of a plate of steaming pasta, two days after the victory of the European Championship, at Wembley against England. The caption was a mockery (but with a smile) to the opponents. «You have to eat more pasta». Controversy is inevitable.
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Source: Vanity Fair
