He shook hands with Carlo Ancelotti, giving him an appointment next week, when he will return from his commitments with the national team. The 0-0 at Turin marked it, of course, because Napoli did not play well, it was disappointing. However, inside of himself, Giovanni Di Lorenzo felt happy, like a child on the day of the Befana. At the foot of his bed, in recent days, he found a very pleasant surprise: the convocation of Roberto Mancini for his first time in the National team. His eyes were wrinkled, the Neapolitan defender read that communication several times, making sure that he really was the recipient of the good news. And, on Sunday evening, together with Meret and Insigne, Di Lorenzo joined Coverciano, where Italy will prepare the next two races with Greece and Liechtenstein, valid for the qualifying round in the next European Championship.
THE ITALIAN DREAM - It was there that Di Lorenzo believed in the beautiful fable, when he found himself in the presence of Roberto Mancini, the engineer, who welcomed him for his first experience in blue shirt. The former defender of Empoli has reached the age of 26, an important age, that of football maturity. And it arrived after the great jump made in the summer, passing through Naples. Ancelotti had no doubts, he believed in him from the first moment, entrusting him with the right wing. And already from the debut in the championship, in Florence, it was understood that from that position no one would have undermined him. Also in Turin he highlighted those qualities that allow him to be unsurpassed in the defensive and precious phase whenever he goes to propose himself to cross: the best suggestions for Llorente's breakaway started right from his right.
HIGH JUMP - The story of this boy is particular if you think that up until three years ago he was playing in Serie C, in Matera, where he thought he had reached the maximum. But he had not taken into account that unique stubbornness, those qualities wasted, probably in the third series. And so, Fabrizio Corsi took him to Empoli in 2017. In Tuscany, Di Lorenzo won the B championship and made his debut in Serie A the following year. The rest, is today's story, is the story of a summer that began with the signing of the contract proposed to him by Naples and with the beginning of this beautiful fable that is only on the first pages. The happy ending should be taken for granted, but Giovanni wants to enjoy it to the full, living moment by moment. His first interest, of course, is Naples and its ambitions. There is an entire season to play and different goals to pursue. This year, the club has declared, wants to compete for the championship until the last day and try to go as far as possible in the Champions League. A project that Di Lorenzo accepted with great enthusiasm, demonstrating all the joy in the field for what happened to him last summer.