Citta Di Castello It is a city of 40,000 inhabitants in central Italy, in the Umbria region. For example, the actress was born there Monica Bellucci. The city club, Associazione Calcio Città Di Castelloit is almost an Argentine branch. Founded in 1919, the institution has 13 Albiceleste representatives on campus. The coach Gabriel Díaz is also Argentinian. And when his colleague Carlos Bianchi was awarded “God’s Cell Phone,” he has a direct Bluetooth connection with heaven. Because both the president and the captain of the team They are relatives of Pope FrancisHe died on April 21st.
Città Di Castello played in Serie C and D for a large part of its more than 100-year history. However, an extended crisis with several changes of ownership that led to administrative and football problems plunged the club into the Sixth Division and was on the verge of exit due to debts.
There the hand of Leo XIV’s predecessor appeared. Because a corporate group took command of the institution, took care of the obligations and tried to organize it Matias BergoglioNephew of Francisco, elected president. AND PhilipSon of Matías, is a defender and captain of the team. His name has gone viral in recent months due to his connection to the former archbishop of Buenos Aires.
The first step of the plan was to put together a competitive squad with the aim of moving up the category until it re-establishes itself in Serie C. In addition, the Inferiores have been reorganized and in 2026 they will introduce a female representative. Everything, with the colors blue and white as the driving force of the project.
Felipe Bergoglio, 21, wears the ribbon proudly. He started out as a football player in Lasallano Social and Sports Club of Córdoba before emigrating Misano from Italy. He also played in the Trestinawho borrowed it US Castiglionense 1919old name of AC Citta Di Castello before this rebirth.
Franco Rodríguez, Facundo Cabrera, Emiliano Bo, Mauricio Pertierra, Nicolás Bellino, Valentino Roselli, Santino Federicci, Lionel Franceschi, Ezequiel Ocampo, Juan Ignacio Martín and Joaquín Olivero They are the other Argentinians who make up the squad.
Cabrera, who also alternates the captain’s belt, debuted in San Martín de San Juan in 2021; He shared a squad with Sebastián Penco, Sebastián González, Jonathan Bottinelli and other renowned players. He also spent a season on loan in the Colombian second division. And in Italy he found an Argentine family with whom he could settle. They embody stories of struggle and overcoming in a football that doesn’t always offer opportunities.
In Citta Di Castello They have Gabriel Díaz at the helm. He came from Lanús Inferiores and was part of the Olimpo team that was promoted to the Primera in 2009. He then starred in a career that took him to play in various countries in America and Europe. Accompanies him as manager Ezequiel Manzanoformer Boca and Talleres Inferiores, with a history with the boots in Europe. Yes, another Argentine is behind the dream. Like the Bergoglios, who tell of their experiences with the famous family member who will soon be linked to the fate of the team.
“I was lucky enough to be able to be at an audience with him in Rome in April of the same year he was elected Pope, coincidentally on a business trip… And What surprised me when I saw him and we were able to talk for a moment was that in the middle of all this he asked me about my father and my brothers, how they were and what they were doing…“, recalls Matías, president of the company.
“Another peculiarity of his personality to highlight is that, regardless of whether he was in a good mood, he always joked about the situations… We couldn’t tell him about the project. In the month of April, when he died, we had planned to go to the Vatican to visit him and tell him, just a week after his departure. Instead of visiting him, we ended up going to his funeral,” he gives vent to his pain.
Felipe did not have such a close bond that goes beyond what the surname Bergoglio evokes. “He was from Buenos Aires and we were from Córdoba, but my father, my uncles and my grandfather had a closer relationship before he became pope. When they appointed him I was nine years old and there he was already going to Italy… And I came here recently to play. I know that he knew that I was playing in Italy because when they introduced me on the networks in one of the teams I played for, it attracted attention and it turned out that I was There they came from all media to take notes for me and we talked about it to notify you. He wished me good luck and my companions told me to take them with me to bless us, heh“, he says.
The evasive maneuver Citta Di Castello The results also started to bear fruit. It is in the first places of the tournament in the Umbria region and was able to remain unbeaten for several dates. This makes it the team in Italy that has gone the longest without conceding a goal in all categories since the start of the season.
In addition, manager Bergoglio is aiming for the club to be “operationally independent” by 2026 by involving sponsors. Also taking advantage of the connection between the two countries, he is committed to “shortening the kilometers between Italy and Argentina, not only through the agreement between universities of both countries and other similar projects, but also through a fan token program aimed at creating a community of fans of both countries with prizes, raffles and benefits of all kinds.”
Everything, with the eternal figure of Francisco as an amalgam. “We are working to coordinate a full staff visit to the Vatican with Pope Leo XIV. We would like to bring him a gift t-shirt for him and another for the Francisco Museum. Another idea we want to implement is Honor him on the anniversary of his death, perhaps with a special t-shirt or a match. Because Jorge is always present in the family and logically he will also be present in the club. “We want to bring an image of him into the facilities,” concluded Matías, continuing the legacy of Jorge Bergoglio’s football fanaticism. Because in Citta Di Castello they won’t play Farro, Pontoni and Martinotheir idols in Saint Lawrencebut his great-nephew Felipe does, with the last name as a banner.
About The Author
