{"id":802,"date":"2022-11-10T14:31:36","date_gmt":"2022-11-10T14:31:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/giampiero.com\/?p=802"},"modified":"2023-06-17T21:35:27","modified_gmt":"2023-06-17T21:35:27","slug":"the-soccer-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giampiero.com\/featured\/the-soccer-story\/","title":{"rendered":"My Life In Soccer"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Giampiero Ambrosi Brown University Soccer<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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That\u2019s me back in my youthful days playing for Brown University \u2013 a little more in shape and with a few more locks of hair. As I recall, we were playing UConn in that game and they were ranked in the top 3 or 4 in the nation. I couldn\u2019t remember much about that game, but my old teammate, Steve Thomas reminded me that we won 1- 0 in double overtime on his goal. Pretty damn good.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Juventus Circa 1957<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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This is Juventus back in the late 50s. My dad was a big Juventus fan growing up. One of Juventus\u2019 best players was the guy kneeling, 3rd from left. Giampiero Boniperti. My dad liked his name, and so I got the name, Giampiero. His motto was \u201cWinning is not important, it\u2019s the only thing that counts.\u201d I\u2019m not sure I subscribe to that, but I kinda like the desire. To the right of him is Omar Sivori. My dad\u2019s best friend, Sergio, named his son Omar. The two of them were nuts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Training<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Here I\u2019m probably 16 years old at training camp at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. I had just come from US Youth National Team Regional Camp where in Indiana. I think I was really at a peak in soccer because of the sustained period of daily play. I consider it a great privilege to have played for Steve Heighway \u2013 and learned a lot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Later we went to a tour of England and Wales where we played Wales National Schools Team and won 2 \u2013 1. I scored a goal and couldn\u2019t stop jumping up and down. We then played Liverpool Youth Team at Melwood. What an incredibile experience. This was when Liverpool were the best team in Europe. Imagine sharing a locker room and getting kitted up with Dalglish, Souness, Rush, Sammy Lee. Pretty damned overwhelming! We lost 1 \u2013 0, on a super hot day. At half time we went in to find that the only fluid they had available was HOT tea! We had to go get water from a sink in back. We then went on to beat a bunch of area clubs before playing Manchester City at their old Stadium. We got crushed that day, I think because we lost focus over the trip\u2026.we were naive tourists, and because we were playing battle hardened professional players. After the game, we had to make a run for our lives\u2026riot police beating back a rabid horde of Man City supporters because we were all standing around after the game in our Red Black and White track suits \u2013 just the same color as hated cross town enemies Manchester United. I\u2019ll never forget what Steve Heighway told me all those years ago\u2026.the difference between a professional and talented amateur is that even on a bad day, the professional will suck it up and focus on doing whatever he can do to the help the team. The amateur just fades away and has a nightmare. I\u2019d definitely call that a life lesson with applications outside of the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here I am playing against Manchester City at Maine Road <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here I am playing against Liverpool at their Melwood training ground.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Sunset Old Boys 2009 Champs<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

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And now here we are with the Sunset Old Boys. It\u2019s just for fun now, though we\u2019ve had our fair share of success playing in a league of younger guys. We\u2019ve been playing together for almost 20 years and we know what we\u2019re doing. Thankfully, we\u2019ve added a few young guys to provide the legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vinnie Jones in \u201cLock,Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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And one time, Hollywood and former Wimbledon FC hardman, Vinnie Jones, tried to whack me!<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

That\u2019s me back in my youthful days playing for Brown University \u2013 a little more in shape and with a few more locks of hair. As I recall, we were playing UConn in that game and they were ranked in the top 3 or 4 in the nation. 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