Andrea Pirlo's son, Nicolò, posted a message on his Instagram profile after the controversy sparked by his father's omission from the list of candidates for the role of Italy head coach: "There are moments when disappointment goes beyond a simple choice. Because what is being called into question is not just a decision, but the way people are judged.
I know how much you love this job. I know how much you have studied, how much you have sacrificed and how much respect you have always had for anyone who has shared your journey. And I know that the values you spoke about are not just words, they are the ones you have always lived by.
That is why I feel enormous bitterness. Not over a place in the dugout, which in sport is won and lost. But over the climate that has been created around a person who has always let his work do the talking, without looking for shortcuts or consensus.
As a son, but also as a young man who dreams of building a future for himself in football, all of this hurts. Because the noise seems to count for more than competence, respect and values.
Whatever happens, one certainty will never change: I am proud of the man you are, long before the professional everyone knows. And the values you have taught me will always carry more weight than any title, judgement or controversy".
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