Ex-Napoli man Agostinelli: "My son died from cocaine, I still wonder why" | OneFootball

Andrea Agostinelli, former midfielder for Lazio and coach (also in Naples) with a career spanning Italy, Albania, and even Congo, shares his story in a long interview with Corriere della Sera.

Former Napoli Coach Agostinelli: “My son died of cocaine, and I never stopped asking myself why”

Amidst memories of football and bitter confessions, the tragedy that marked him forever emerges: the death of his son Gianmarco, who passed away in 2014 at just 33 years old from a cocaine overdose.

A career between Italy and extreme experiences

Agostinelli has just concluded his experience at Flamurtari in Albania. But in his professional life, he has encountered much more distant realities.

“I was in Rome when the offer from Congo came,” he recounts. “I accepted without thinking too much. Upon landing at the airport, I was greeted by three armored cars. From there, a forty-minute journey to the city. The training sessions were held 50 kilometers from Kinshasa, in the middle of the savannah. Some players changed directly on the field. I immediately noticed two of them: one plays for the National team today, the other in the United Arab Emirates. That country has an innate talent for football.”

He coached at the Tata Raphael stadium, the same one that was the backdrop for the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle” between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. “The away games were incredible: three hours of flight to reach villages where the shower consisted of a tub of water filled from the river by a local woman. There were witch doctors, crucifixes hanging on the field gates. I lived in a large house, with bodyguards and meals at a Portuguese restaurant. A privileged life, at least until the elections changed everything and I decided to return to Italy.”

The personal tragedy

2014 marks the most painful fracture of his life. Gianmarco, the eldest son, dies in Montecatini.

“When you experience such a tragedy, half of you dies too,” Agostinelli confesses. “It’s an unnatural pain that tears you apart forever. There isn’t a day you don’t think about it. Time heals nothing; if anything, it forces you to learn to live with the wound.”

His son had started using cocaine in 2003, precisely when Agostinelli was coaching Napoli. “Not even a cigarette had ever entered my house. When my wife and I found out, he justified himself by saying: ‘Everyone does it.’ We sent him to rehab, and thanks to my connections, he even managed to debut in Serie C2. But his battle with drugs never really ended.”

The former coach admits to having blamed himself for a long time: “I asked myself a thousand times: ‘What if I hadn’t left him alone that night?’ The next day he was supposed to visit a real estate agency in Pistoia, where we wanted to move back to. He didn’t understand the value of life.”

The comparison with yesterday’s and today’s upbringing

Agostinelli also reflects on the role of parents: “I envy those who can still instill solid rules in their children. Kids today have too much, and controlling everything becomes impossible. I remember my father Attilio: he would take me to the field, and to be happy, all we needed was a walk to the fountain near home, with a slice of watermelon in hand. It was an old-fashioned upbringing, simple but full of substance.”

A Lazio “without rules”

Finally, a chapter of football memories. The Lazio of the seventies, of which Agostinelli was a part, was famous for its talent and often chaotic atmosphere.

“There wasn’t a quiet day,” he recalls. “During the practice matches, fights were frequent: I even saw the coach and the equipment manager come to blows. Yet on Sundays, we were united. Once, on the bus for an away game, I saw three teammates at the back loading guns. I thought: ‘Where are we going, to war?’ They started shooting in the air. Then I looked up and noticed a plane flying over us. It was Gigi Martini, who besides being a footballer was also a pilot.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇮🇹 here.