Former Thanh Hoa coach opens restaurant in Vietnam, talks passionately about the Italian team

From coach to... chef

At an Italian restaurant in a small alley nestled next to a row of villas on To Ngoc Van Street (Tay Ho District, Hanoi), a man was standing on the sidewalk, hurriedly showing customers where to park their cars. When customers finished parking, he stood at the door, enthusiastically welcoming them in, with a typical Italian greeting: "Ciao".

Although the shop has staff, he still personally welcomes guests and does all the work. "The staff here doesn't recognize me, but do you?", he started the conversation. The shop owner is Fabio Lopez, the coach who led Thanh Hoa Club in the early stages of V-League 2020.

Coach Fabio Lopez was born in 1973 and has many years of experience in football in Italy, as a coach, assistant coach and scout, including 4 years as a "headhunter" for Atalanta (2003 - 2005) and Fiorentina (2005 - 2007).

Inside the restaurant owned by coach Fabio Lopez

With a FIFA Pro certificate and a resume working at several Italian teams, coach Fabio Lopez was recruited by Thanh Hoa Club at the beginning of the 2020 season. The Italian strategist then left the coaching position in June 2020 due to poor results in the V-League with three consecutive losses against Hai Phong, Ho Chi Minh City and Quang Nam.

However, Mr. Lopez still has problems with the Thanh Hoa team. In early 2021, he sued Thanh Hoa Club in court and was awarded a victory by FIFA, receiving $200,000 in compensation.

"I received money from Thanh Hoa Club. 3 years after returning to Italy, I received some invitations, but most of the time, I could only stay in Italy because of the pandemic. Then, there were more invitations, this time from Asia. However, when considering, I felt it was not suitable to return," said coach Fabio Lopez.

The Italian teacher, now an Italian chef, enthusiastically introduces the traditional lasagna of his homeland, which is also the signature dish of the restaurant he opened in June.

Talking about the reason for returning to Vietnam, Mr. Lopez shared, "I have many close friends in Vietnam. I often meet and interact with them during the 6 months here. I want to come back, not for football yet, but in a different role."

Coach Lopez when he was leading Thanh Hoa Club

In a space of about 20 square meters, Mr. Lopez is both the owner and... employee. He shares the work with a young employee, not afraid to clean the reception table, go into the kitchen to prepare food, bring food to customers, and also act as the cashier.

"It's delicious, I'm very proud of this dish. I learned how to cook lasagna and Italian dishes from my grandmother. I hope to bring authentic Italian dishes, so that Vietnamese people can understand more about Italian cuisine, that we don't just have pizza, spaghetti or pasta," Coach Lopez emphasized.

Learn to adapt

Coach Lopez did not mention much about his short time working at Thanh Hoa Club, except for a brief comment: "I did not have full authority to make decisions, there was always interference from outside."

Having worked in many Asian countries, including Saudi Arabia and Bangladesh before coming to Vietnam, Coach Lopez has encountered many different cultures. For the Italian coach, football, cuisine and culture have similarities.

That is, in each country, these "categories" have their own characteristics. Italian football will be different from Saudi Arabian football, different from Vietnamese football. The same goes for cuisine. The important thing is to accept the differences. "I want to respect differences and diversity. We are all beautiful, because we are unique, not mixed with anyone else," Mr. Lopez affirmed.

The former Thanh Hoa strategist did not hesitate to use food to talk about football. He said that there were customers who went to an Italian restaurant, but ordered... fish sauce to make the taste stronger. "Come on, when you go to an Italian restaurant, eat Italian food, then eat the Italian way. Didn't you come here to enjoy Italian cuisine? Just like when I eat Vietnamese food, I won't ask for cheese. I want to enjoy Vietnamese cuisine the Vietnamese way."

The signature lasagna of the restaurant that Coach Lopez put a lot of effort into

Coach Lopez warmly welcomed guests

The same goes for football. The Italian strategist asserts that not everyone easily accepts new things. Sometimes, due to prejudice, new things cannot challenge old values, so that even coaches who really want to change their clubs have to "give up" because of the wall of prejudice in the name of "football culture".

It is very difficult for the Italian team to win EURO 2024

Temporarily leaving football, but Coach Lopez is still very enthusiastic when talking about football. 3 years ago, the Italian team, the home country of the 50-year-old coach, convincingly won the EURO championship.

But soon after, the team nicknamed "Azure" could not win a ticket to the 2022 World Cup finals. In the EURO 2024 qualifiers, Italy also had to wait for a difficult draw against Ukraine in the final round to get a ticket to continue.

"In football, there is a concept called a cycle. Every 12 to 15 years, a generation will form. They start as young players, then mature, become stars and then decline.

For example, the talented generation of Andrea Pirlo, Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluigi Buffon helped Italy win the 2006 World Cup. After that, they went downhill, and Italian football failed for many years. I will never forget the successive failures at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups (eliminated in the group stage), and the 2018 World Cup (not allowed to participate).

A generation later formed with Federico Chiesa, Nicolo Barella, Marco Verratti as the leaders to win EURO 2020. But what happened after that, no one knows," said coach Lopez.

The former coach of Thanh Hoa team affirmed that EURO 2024 will be very, very difficult for the Italian team. "Winning again? Never. We just think about going as far as possible. And try not to miss the World Cup again," said coach Lopez.

For Coach Lopez, the time he spent in Vietnam opening and running the restaurant was very difficult when employees came and went, he had to take care of everything from finding ingredients, cooking, preparing equipment, cleaning, but so far everything is fine.

"I have many good friends around me, my job is still good. As for football, I am still passionate. But to return to football is up to fate, just wait and see. I will start working as soon as I see the opportunity. Hopefully soon," Coach Lopez concluded the conversation.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/cuu-hlv-thanh-hoa-mo-quan-an-o-viet-nam-say-sua-noi-ve-doi-tuyen-y-185231212192823418.htm