For 38 years they have always slept together, in the same bed: him, Silvio Baldini, technical commissioner of the Italy Under 21 team and interim coach of the senior national teamhis wife and their Valentina who left them on July 17th.
Valentina had been suffering from severe spastic tetraparesis since birtha neurological condition that resulted in a very severe disability and made her completely dependent on family assistance. In his autobiography The winning football. Either I win or I learnpublished in 2022, Baldini wrote: “The doctors always told us that this little girl would not have a long life and for this reason she always slept with me and my wife.” The terror of waking up to find her dead in another bed was intolerable. But, above all, it was nice to sleep with her for another reason: “When he dreams at night he laughs continuously… his laughter is truly contagious“. For him and his wife, Valentina has always remained a little girl who found joy in games such as «chasing the ants that walk on the ground or wanting yoghurt cups and having fun cutting them».
When he was coaching Pescara, Baldini had explained how much his daughter had changed the way he looked at people: “I look at the boys with the same eyes with which I look at my daughter”. On that occasion he added: “I want her like this, she’s fine like this. And I’m a happy dad.”underlining how his family was his strength: “I may be abandoned by the world of football, but I will never be alone”, because his daughter had taught him to love without expecting anything in return” and had made him reduce the importance of football with respect to family and loved ones. “Valentina made me understand what it means to love unconditionally just as my wife made me understand what it means to build a family. Having a family means trying to understand the problems, especially those of those who are worse off and this has given us a certain unity.”
The news of Valentina Baldini’s death was made public through messages of condolence from football clubs and the Federation. Numerous managers, coaches and clubs have expressed closeness to the Baldini family. “In such a difficult moment for him and his family, all of Italian football clings with affection to Silvio Baldini.” The FIGC president, Giovanni Malagò, writes it in Xafter the news of the death of the daughter of the Under 21 coach and interim coach. «A splendid person, even before being a good coach, capable of transforming pain into joy, suffering into testimony», concludes Malagò. The funeral was set in Marina di Massa.
