Rampulla: "I wanted to be Anastasi, my dad sent me in goal. And when I scored with my header..."

"No, no, no," Giagnoni yells at me, "but now I'm running straight toward the Atalanta goal..." Michelangelo Rampulla never returned from that goal, at least not in everyone's memory. That February 23, 1992, he scored the first goal from open play by a goalkeeper in Serie A, drawing Cremonese 1-1 in the 90th minute, and he became famous. He then went to Juve, where he spent ten years, seven of them as Peruzzi's assistant. Here he met Lippi, whom he also followed to China. Today he lives in Paestum, where his wife runs a restaurant, and he doesn't always watch football "because it's far from mine, too many books, not enough practice, and Donnarumma without a team because he doesn't have the right feet, you know?"

The goalkeeper's goal wasn't written in the books...

I'm starting as a striker, left winger in a modern 4-3-3, or, as they say today, with an inverted foot. Not fast, good dribbling. But my dad, a lifelong Juventus fan, talks to me about Sentimenti IV, Combi, Anzolin... I'm seven or eight years old and I want to be like Anastasi. Pietruzzo is our Sicilian idol, a symbol. My first coach in the youth team, in a hamlet of Patti, sees me with gloves but tells me, 'You go up front.' But I..."

“I tell him, 'Mister, my father doesn't want it.' He's a literature professor, he knows my father because we live in a small town of 500 people, and he knows he's a bit hot-headed. He looks at me and says, 'Okay, go in goal.'” Dad has a black and white Seicento. “We drive around when Juve wins the Scudetto. The hood has black and white stripes. I still have it and I'm having it restored.”

When he scored he must have been thinking of him...

Atalanta-Cremonese, we're a goal down. I've already tried to advance, but I have to get back in front quickly. I saw Pagliuca try in a Sampdoria-Torino match. There's a free kick, it's the 90th minute, I make up my mind and say to Giagnoni, "Coach, I'm going!" And he says, "No, no, no!" But Garzilli, my teammate, shouts, "I'll cover you." Giagnoni throws up his arms in resignation. I dream of a bicycle kick, but instead the ball comes to the far post and I head it in with all my might.

I don't understand anything. I'm thinking about going back so as not to leave an empty net. I almost don't realize it's a goal. The funny thing is that, thirty seconds later, there's a similar situation and Giagnoni says to me, 'Go, Miche!' I'm gasping, I can't take it anymore. 'No, no, mister, let's not push our luck...' Unfortunately, it's not enough to save us. Ferron, their goalkeeper, is a friend. 'You?' 'Better me, since I'm your friend...'"

“A great man, with a warm heart, from another era. He arrives after Burgnich's dismissal, who had a habit: allowing a glass of water and a half of wine with meals. No more, no less. Perhaps he remembered it from the Herrera days, but we were thirsty after training. Giagnoni sits down at the table for the first time and sees the masseur pouring from the two bottles. “What is he doing?” They explain. And he says: “These are grown, married men. Make them drink.”

"Decades ahead. He already has technical assistants, he talks about pressing. Science fiction. I went to see him at the stadium when Juve gave him to Messina after taking Sivori. We saved ourselves in Varese in '81, he says: 'Credit to everyone, but, if you want a name, it's Rampulla.'"

Your first memory of football?

“Palermo-Juve 1-1 in '67-'68. I'm five years old. And my career begins in Palermo, in a four-way tournament between regions in '79, I play for Sicily. Then there's a friendly against Palermo, with Frison and De Stefanis, we win 1-0. We students... Coach De Luca says to me during the match: 'What are you doing?' And I say: 'I save, mister, it's my job.' I save everything. Palermo wants me, Favalli is in the stands, but my father says: 'They don't let young players play, Varese does. Go up.' He's right. In September I debut in Serie B at 18. Back then, goalkeepers were young up to 25, the others up to 22. They change the rules: I win the prize in Serie B and Bergomi in Serie A.”

In Varese there was Marotta as sporting director.

“He'd say, 'Will you stop so I can shoot?' He'd get changed and come on the pitch. He had a nice left foot.”

He has always had his mind on goal: in Cesena he went to take a penalty.

"And Torresin saves it. Cesena is a good team, Fontana, Bonaiuti, Seba Rossa among the youngsters: I coach them too. We miss four penalties in a row in the league and coach Buffoni, desperate, asks me: 'Are you up to it?' Of course! It happens against Monza, but at the last corner: the thing you should never do."

Cesena, Cremonese, then Juve in '92.

"Lazio also wants me, it seems like a done deal, but Juve are thinking of me as Peruzzi's deputy, a monster. I meet Zenga on TV and he says, 'Go to Juve! Forget the rest, it's always Juve.' Then, for a Juventus fan like me... Ten games there are worth thirty anywhere else: I played 99. But my hundredth was the Juve-Toro friendly in '94 for the flood victims, as captain."

I listen to him with my mouth open, like everyone else. Before the game, he explains in detail what to do. And on the pitch, he plays practice matches with us: he's 50 years old, but, wow, what grit, he still kicks a few balls."

Lippi arrives and stays with him, even in China.

Marcello is extraordinary. He doesn't know how many games we win thanks to his motivational speeches: he gets 200 percent from the players. In China, we're one step away from the 'scudetto'; we just need to tie. He explains everything to the boys, but after eight seconds we're behind. At halftime, he comes back into the locker room furious. Vincenzo, the translator, tries to speak in Chinese, but he says: 'Shut up! They understand me perfectly in Italian!' He screams and smashes; in fact, he shatters the blackboard with a karate kick; the boys are terrified. They come back, we tie, and the title is ours.