“It’s not ‘women's football’, it's ‘football’.” This quote from the Head Coach of the Women’s National Team, Andrea Soncin, following Italy’s UEFA Nations League victory over Switzerland in Parma has become iconic. It was chosen as the title of a panel discussion featuring Soncin in Milan, as part of the closing event of the A.Di.Se. transfer market, which came after a roundtable titled “The new direction of the Women's Serie A Division, from amateur to professional” earlier in the afternoon.

In front of an audience that included young female players from the Orobica youth sector, Soncin recalled that moment: “It came out instinctively, without hesitation,” he said. "I really do believe this to be the case, considering the unique aspects and characteristics of the movement. Relational, psychological and motivational aspects can differ between the men’s and women’s games, but the desire to win, the passion and technical/tactical aspects are the same.

Soncin and his staff members have brought a revolution, not just in terms of technical-tactical aspects but also linguistically: “I consider myself the coach of the women’s national football team, not the national women’s football team: there’s a big difference there. Attention needs to be paid to the specifics, especially because, in our country, we have a culture that is improving but still needs to improve. We’re seeing the numbers increase, but there are still certain cultural barriers that probably slow down the process.”

A year and a half ago, when Soncin became the Azzurre Head Coach, a long journey of discovery began where “Together with my staff, I set the goal of placing the individual at the forefront, not just the athlete. Getting to know the players deeply means discovering their wishes, ambitions and fears, as well as creating an ideal environment where people feel free to express themselves, without fear of judgement. When it comes to the girls, managing mistakes is very important because they often blame themselves a lot. That’s why we’ve focused on emphasising the solution rather than the mistake, all the while trying to get to know all the players in depth.”

Soncin leads a big group where there is room for everyone: “You earn the dream on the pitch. We observe everything, including Serie B and Serie C, as we did with Nischler: we’d been following her before she made the step up to Serie A. Wearing the Italy shirt is a dream, and it’s important to give everyone the chance to fulfil it.” Soncin says he feels “on top of the world” in his current role: "It’s something unique, incomparable; every time we meet up, so many emotions are involved. The players have shown real willingness and have been eager to hear answers and explanations, and then there’s been utmost commitment to doing what has been asked of them. They’re top-level professionals and have grown mentally: they’ve realised that being a professional isn’t just about protections and rights, it’s also about being athletes and role models in the way they behave.”

Having strong relationships with clubs is crucial for achieving results: “A few days ago, I read an interview with Coach Luciano Spalletti where he said that he’s the coach seven days a week, 24 hours a day. I completely agree with him: when we’re not together, we’re in constant contact with the players and their clubs. We have a very close synergy, always starting from the concept of putting the individual at the forefront. We exchange technical, physical, personal and dietary information etc., and we do the same with the youth teams. We’re entirely dependent on the daily work of the clubs. This is us growing ‘hand in hand’: only together can we raise the level of the players and the entire movement.”

In addition to providing some behind-the-scenes insights about what happens when the National Team meets up (“one of the last team-building activities was asking the girls to create a graphic collage relating to the topic ‘L’Italia chiamò’”) and using three adjectives to describe the team (“courageous, exciting, respectful”), Soncin looked ahead to Italy’s upcoming matches in the Nations League in February: the Azzurre will face Wales in Monza on the 21st before taking on Denmark in La Spezia four days later. “Why come to the stadium? Because it’s fun, and you get to witness passion and some special emotions. We really wanted to play in Monza, where many important players have played, including my assistant (Viviana Schiavi, Ed.). We’re confident that the crowd will spur us on.”