Top 3 Italian Footballers Who Started Their Careers in University

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Excelling in both academics and athletics is a tough challenge. While many Italian football legends dedicated themselves to the sport from a young age, not many of them also excelled academically. Here are three Italian footballers who managed to further their studies while also performing excellently on the pitch. 

1. Giorgio Chiellini

You might know Giorgio Chiellini as a resolute defender but perhaps not as a scholar. But indeed, the Juventus and Italian national team captain earned a degree in Business Administration from the prestigious University of Turin while playing championship-level football. Imagine this feat – finding the time to complete university courses and exams while honing your skills as a professional footballer at the highest level, playing weekly hours of competitive top-flight matches and training sessions. Chiellini has expressed how his academic background influenced his perspective on the business of sports and likely aided the development of his rich leadership qualities, both on the pitch and in the dressing rooms. Chiellini is the undisputed rock of the defense that has propelled Juventus to several consecutive championship titles in Serie A, Italy’s top football league. He has also led the Italian national team for many years and was a key figure in Italy’s decisive victory in the European Championships in the summer of 2021, helping the so-called ‘Azzurri’ to win their second European Cup.

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2. Christian Vieri

Christian Vieri, one of Italy’s greatest strikers, played for the Italian national team and clubs like Juventus and Inter Milan. He spent his early years at Prairiewood High School and Patrician Brothers’ College, Fairfield. Here, he honed both his academic skills and his passion for football. His school years were crucial in developing the physical and mental attributes that contributed to his football career. His journey through these schools should be admired for several reasons:

• Academic Development: Enhanced his learning abilities and discipline.
• Football Skills: Nurtured his talent and love for the sport.
• Physical Fitness: Built the strength and agility needed for professional football.
• Mental Toughness: Fostered the resilience required for a competitive sports career.

3. Alessandro Spanò 

Alessandro Spanò has a challenging routine. On weekdays he trains at the academy of Calcio Lecco, an Italian Serie C football club in Lecco, 60 kilometres north of Milan. In the evening, he heads to his apartment to study for assignments and examinations. If you operate on a similar schedule, use a trustworthy writing platform to aid with your studies. Aspiring footballers who wish to combine football with learning need all the help they can get. As for Alessandro Spanò, being academically inclined since a very young age, he made a bold decision at the dawn of his professional career: at 26, he decided to quit football to pursue an MBA at the SDA Bocconi School of Management in Milan. After showing impressive results during a few years on the pitch for the Reggio Audace, a team in Italy’s fifth division, Spanò turned his life around by deciding to call it quits as a professional footballer and dedicating himself to higher education. 

Juggling Academics and Athletics

The path that Giorgio Chiellini, Christian Vieri, and Alessandro Spanò have taken demonstrates that education and sport can go very well hand in hand. With education seeming like a tedious affair for some football lovers, the thousands of athletes that now choose to enroll in university offer us the chance to observe whether these players are just exceptional cases or if education is likely to become a sort of companion of football in the future. If you, too, are a football player with a passion for learners, fear not, as you can achieve both academically and on the pitch, as long as you have discipline and dedication.