Sun, Dec 17, 2017 page11

• Juventus breathe new life into Italian women’s soccer

  • AFP, TURIN, Italy
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  After 120 years, the Old Lady of Turin has finally opened its doors to an elite women’s team, which is shaking up the world of women’s soccer in Italy.

  Since September, Rita Guarino’s Juventus women have swept aside their rivals with eight wins from eight league games, including the past two champions, Brescia and Fiorentina.

  Now Juve look poised to follow the success of their dominant men’s team in Serie A.

  

  From left, Juventus’ Benedetta Glionna, Cecilia Salvai and Arianna Caruso celebrate after defeating Sassuolo at Juventus Center in Vinovo, Italy, on Nov. 18.

  Photo: AFP

  Italian national women’s team coach Milena Bertolini sees the arrival of the new team as a sign that things are changing in a sport that is seen as one of the last men’s strongholds in Italy.

  “The arrival of Juventus has given a strong impetus to the whole movement,” Bertolini told reporters, as the national side are poised to succeed where their men failed and qualify for their first World Cup since 1999.

  “We have spoken more about women’s football in the last six months since the arrival of Juventus than in the last ten years,” she said.

  Juventus — winners of a record 33 men’s league titles, including the past six, 12 Coppa Italias and two UEFA Champions League crowns — are used to being first, and the club have provided significant funding for their women’s team to crush their rivals.

  “The budget isn’t yet well defined, because the majority of activities linked to the women’s team are merged with those of the men’s,” said Stefano Braghin, head of Juve’s women’s section. “But we have a sufficient budget to achieve the objective fixed by the club: to become as soon as possible a team of international caliber, not just national.”

  “A girl who supports Juventus now has the possibility to play for the club. A possibility is offered to passions that before risked being stifled,” Braghin added.

  The newly created team has an international flavor; some, like striker Simona Sodini, played last season for Cuneo, the club from which Juventus purchased their Serie A license.

  Others joined from top Italian teams such as Brescia, attracted by the opportunity to play for the biggest club in the country, with New Zealand’s Katie Rood fulfilling her life-long dream by signing her first professional contract from Kiwi side Glenfield Rovers.

  “We’re a team with a lot of girls who have never played together, so it wasn’t easy, but there is such professionalism and determination from the players and staff,” 35-year-old Sodini told reporters. “We’re aiming to reach our objective, which is the scudetto and [UEFA Women’s] Champions League qualification.”

  Unlike their male counterparts with multimillion-dollar salaries, female players in Italy are considered amateur athletes, and many in smaller clubs struggle to make a living.

  “[The salary] is nothing compared with the men’s, but I can just focus on football for now,” Finnish defender Tuija Hyyrynen said.

  “They have great ambitions and great facilities,” added the 29-year-old, whose career has taken her to the US, Sweden and Denmark.

  Fiorentina and Juventus are the only big clubs featured in the 12-team women’s Serie A. Inter are to follow next season, but other major clubs such as AS Roma, SSC Napoli and AC Milan are still not represented.

  “Juve have started this journey and we hope next year to see other big clubs, so that women’s football will be in the spotlight,” goalkeeper Laura Giuliani said.

  The big objective is to increase the popularity of the sport in Italy, which lags behind top European nations, including France and Germany, for the numbers involved in the game.

  “In Finland and Sweden it’s really popular among girls to play football and I have the impression that maybe it’s not the same yet here in Italy,” Hyyrynen said.

  Juventus’ ultimate aim is to rival clubs such as Olympique Lyonnais Feminin, FFC Frankfurt or VfL Wolfsburg in the Women’s Champions League.

  However, the question of the amateur status of players needs to be addressed immediately, Braghin said.

  “It limits us a bit in the choice of foreign players, because a lot are professional in their country. It’s difficult to propose to a professional to return to being an amateur to join our team,” Braghin said.
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