The third edition of the ‘Women at the Top’ event took place this morning at the Teatro Lirico Giorgio Gaber in Milan, an event designed to celebrate female excellence, combat the gender pay gap, and promote a world in which men and woman have equal opportunity for success. During the summit, organized by Il Sole 24 Ore in collaboration with the Financial Times, numerous stories of talent and dedication were told and celebrated, starting with that of the women's national team, fresh from their extraordinary run at EURO 2025 that kept millions of Italians glued to their TV screens.

After official greetings from Il Sole 24 Ore editor-in-chief Fabio Tamburini, Sky TG24 editorial director Giuseppe De Bellis, and 24 ORE Group CEO Federico Silvestri, the opening remarks were delivered by Andrea Soncin, interviewed alongside AC Milan and Italy Under-23 player Nadine Sorelli as part of the panel "Sport is a way of life". "It's inaccurate and anachronistic to talk about ‘women's’ sports," he stated. "Football and other sports are genderless, because the passion girls bring to the field is the same as that of boys. Even the rules are identical; only visibility and investment have changed."

It was a speech greatly appreciated by the students and many young people in the audience. The "parents of tomorrow", as the coach called them, underscoring that they will – hopefully – be the ones who build a society in which the gender gap will be a distant memory. "In Italy, there are still prejudices and cultural barriers," he added, "but the approach is finally changing, and we must continue to work to ensure that every girl can pursue her dream. There is still a strong aversion to speaking in the feminine, and the linguistic issue is the first step in a process we must all undertake together, focusing on value and merit regardless of gender. We can no longer accept a strong girl being told to 'act like a man.'"

Soncin also revealed several aspects of his new life as coach of the Azzurre, such as his relationship with the players, saying “they are well-educated and many have degrees, so they all have something to contribute to the conversation; their motivation is often much deeper than that of their colleagues”. He also spoke of the national team's upcoming commitments, from next week’s tour of the United States to the start of the World Cup qualifiers in March 2026:

"A little over two years ago, we began a journey that culminated this summer at the European Championships, allowing us to experience extraordinary emotions. Through conviction, commitment, and the right mentality, we exceeded expectations, coming within a whisker of the final. Now we must continue working, having learned from that moment that kept us from the final, with the hope of being able to have an even stronger experience in Brazil in 2027 than the one we had in Switzerland."