Italy Coach Giampiero Ventura admits he had a “lively private life, but settled down when I met my wife” – by which point he was 61.
The former Torino boss concedes he has difficulty telling young players off for partying considering his own approach.
“You have to be yourself at all times, even if when you are the CT of the Nazionale, every word you say is subjected to a vivisection,” the 69-year-old said in the Corriere della Sera magazine Sette.
Italy Coach Giampiero Ventura admits he had a “lively private life, but settled down when I met my wife” – by which point he was 61.
The former Torino boss concedes he has difficulty telling young players off for partying considering his own approach.
“You have to be yourself at all times, even if when you are the CT of the Nazionale, every word you say is subjected to a vivisection,” the 69-year-old said in the Corriere della Sera magazine Sette.
“Your every consideration risks being misinterpreted and an ironic joke can create misunderstandings.
“I had a private life that was, how shall I put this…lively. I used to go out dancing, but only to meet women. I was a good midfielder, but I didn’t train much and my life was a bit off the rails, I’d go out late. I made many errors. I never found a Ventura-figure, someone who would tell me I was making a mistake.
“But, to be honest, since I met my wife, which is over the last eight years, my existence has changed radically for the better. I have the pleasure and the joy of getting up in the morning, the pleasure and joy of returning home, the pleasure and joy of seeing her smile. I settled down and got my head on straight."
Ventura married wife Luciana, who is 28 years his junior, last summer.
“What makes me most proud is that I’ve seen at least five generations of Coaches go by, I faced them all and I am still here talking about football.
“My secret? I still want to put myself up to the challenge, both as a man and as a Coach, but above all in tactical terms.”
Ventura was at Bari during the period when the club was accused of match-fixing, a situation that later affected his heir on the bench, Antonio Conte.
“I left Bari because things were happening that had nothing to do with sport. I left three months before the truth really did come out. I was the only Coach in the history of Bari to let the club keep unpaid wages.
“I realised there was a lack of clarity at the club.”