Napoli players rally behind grieving Coach Gattuso

Gennaro Gattuso. A retired Italian footballer. He is the Head Coach of Italian Serie A club SSC Napoli presently. In his playing days, he played as a defensive midfielder. Gattuso clinched two Serie A titles (2003-04 and 2010-11), one Coppa Italia title (2002-03) and two UEFA Champions League titles (2002-03 and 2006-07). All these titles with AC Milan, an Italian club. He won the FIFA World Cup 2006 with Italy. Photo: LPS/AlessioMorgese via Dreamstime

Napoli players showed their support for Gennaro Gattuso by holding a minute's silence on Friday as the grieving head coach returned to training.


Gattuso is mourning after it was announced on Tuesday that his sister Francesca had died at the age of 37 following an illness.

She had worked as a secretary with Serie A club Milan, where Gattuso spent 13 years as a player and was later head coach.

Gattuso, 42, has been in charge of Napoli for almost six months, after succeeding Carlo Ancelotti in December.

The bond between the coach and his players, led by skipper Lorenzo Insigne, was made clear by the players' response to Gattuso at the Castel Volturno training ground on Friday.

"The day began with a very touching moment: the team wanted to express their closeness and make Gennaro Gattuso feel all their affection with a virtual hug," Napoli's website announced.

"Captain Insigne and the whole team observed a minute of recollection in memory of the Azzurro coach's sister before the start of training."