On the pitch, he won everything. Even the Champions League and the Intercontinental Cup. Then Stefano Tacconi stopped playing. He invested in various entrepreneurial ventures, fell and got up again, just like when he played and even saved the moon with the jerseys of Avellino, Juventus, and Genoa.
Until 2022, when a brain aneurysm halted his activities and resulted in significant medical and rehabilitation costs, as well as forcing him into a long coma. Tacconi obtained public housing in Milan after experiencing serious financial and personal difficulties.
But he bounced back again, with the help of his wife, Laura Speranza, and his children Andrea, Virginia, Vittoria, and Alberto. He's now touring Italy to present his book, "The Art of Saving," published by Rizzoli, which stops today at 7:15 pm in Arborea , at the theater in Piazza Maria Ausiliatrice, at the Sports Book Festival organized by Ideario, under the aegis of journalist Fabio Meloni: "The book recounts my life as a child, as a teenager, and then as a young man, as a player for Juventus and the national team," says Tacconi, who turned 69 on May 13. "A journey of experiences that, at a certain point, unfortunately, culminated with the aneurysm and, later, with arterial ischemia."
How do you deal with the disease?
"Certainly with grit, but also with effort. Life placed her in my hands: but she didn't understand who I was. For now, I've managed to parry her too."
Now he is presenting his book around Italy.
"I go where I'm called, always with pleasure. Connecting with people keeps me alive."
He has received a lot of affection over the years, and not just from Juventus fans.
"Yes, from everyone. On such a vast scale that I wasn't expecting it. It was almost moving."
Why did he get sick?
"I had an exaggerated lifestyle, definitely the wrong one. I was constantly traveling for work, always in the car. I never stopped and I demanded too much of myself. In the end, I paid for it."
