Visti da vicino | Manuel Ravasio

Verona - The fourth appointment with ‘Visti da vicino’, theHellas Verona format that will accompany us, every week, for the entire 2024/25 season, in which the protagonists are the young Yellow-Blues of the Primavera team coached by coach Paolo Sammarco.

Curiosities, anecdotes, personal lives and of course lots of football are the main themes of these interviews. In this week's episode we discover the life, both private and sporting, of one of the goalkeepers in the Yellow-Blue Primavera team: Manuel Ravasio.

Manuel, you arrived at Hellas Verona in the Under 18 team and now you are part of the Primavera. How do you experience your role in the team and how do you prepare yourself to always be ready when you are called upon? "The goalkeeper always has a special role within a team, he must always have more charisma and personality to keep the team active. Even in the dressing room I try to make myself heard and get everyone involved, perhaps even with foreigners who may have a little more difficulty integrating. Of course, in addition to that you always have to give 100 per cent in every training session, because everyone's level is very high and you always have to be up to it, keeping the intensity high".

Tell us something about your move to Verona.... "One day I was training with my old team, Villa Valle, and our sporting director arrived and told me that Hellas Verona was interested in me and wanted me to try out. Afterwards I came to Verona to try out and I was aggregated to two training sessions of the Under 17 team, so with boys of my age, and the next day I had the opportunity to go and train with the goalkeeper trainers coach Cataldi and coach Castiglioni, along with Castagnini and Pandur. Then in June came the call from Hellas, who chose to add me to their youth sector".

How do you work with the other goalkeepers and trainers? Is there a sense of collaboration that is created between you during training? "We usually do very specific work, differentiated by day and more substantial on days away from the game. The commitment we put in is always 100 per cent, and coach Sammarco always asks us to pay attention to every detail, to every detail, because we have to maintain a high level of performance. With the other goalkeepers then you can never lower the level, because being a group of guys, in my opinion, very talented, we always push each other to keep the tension high".

What was the most important advice or teaching you received from your trainer or your teammates? "Especially in the beginning I found a big change in terms of what was asked of me in my old team and what Hellas demanded of me instead. The intensity has changed a lot, here there is always a very high rhythm. What is required from me since day one is to always go to the maximum, to overcome fatigue and overcome the first limits, because that's the only way you can always improve".

You made your debut very young in Serie D, what can you tell us about that experience? "I had many experiences before Hellas. A few years at Tre Albe, the team from my village, then I spent two years at Albinoleffe and finally at Villa Valle. Here I started with the Under 15 team and then I was immediately attached to the first team, which played in Serie D. That year, partly because of the pandemic, we played very little, but from the following year I was practically always aggregated to the first team, and one day my chance came. My first match was special because I was called up to play with the Rappresentativa team, but then my trainer called me to tell me that I no longer had to go with them but that I would be aggregated with the First Team because the starting goalkeeper had had an injury in training. On the day of the match, at the end, the first goalkeeper had been called up and had even warmed up, but twenty minutes before the kick-off he forfeited, so I had to prepare and take the field for my Serie D debut. It was a great emotion, with the coach telling me before the game: ‘Don't worry, we are counting on you because we know how much you are capable of".

The season is still in its beginning stages. How are you preparing for it and what are your expectations, both personal and of the team? "Before the season started I always kept myself in good shape, with a preparation schedule that we receive from the team. When I came back for the preparation I knew it would be very difficult and in fact it was. I started by pushing hard right from the start and it went very well, we had good training and good preparation. For now I haven't found much space in the league, although I hope to find more later, but having said that I always arrive at the training camp with a smile, trying to be proactive and give 100%, transmitting all the contribution I can to the team, because we know what our goal is, which is salvation, and we want to achieve it at all costs".

What do you think are your main characteristics as a goalkeeper? "Talking also with other goalkeepers, they all tell me that I stand out for my ability with my feet, because I have a good left foot and I'm good with passes to my teammates".

If you could choose one goalkeeper or one Hellas player as a role model, who would you choose and why? "I would naturally say Montipò, because he is the starter and has been there since I arrived. But I would also say all the others: Perilli and Berardi, they are all very good people, as well as excellent goalkeepers, who help you in training and try to make you feel part of the group even if you come from the Primavera. I'm inspired by them because they are where I dream of being too, in the first team in Serie A".

You were also called up for a Serie A match, what can you tell us about that experience? "Yes, I was called up first for a friendly against Bologna during the 2022 World Cup break and then for a match against Juventus in Turin on 1 April 2023. It goes without saying that it was a wonderful experience, also because apart from being my first call-up in the top division, it was also an important match. Experiencing the away match as a Serie A player was wonderful and I remember very well entering the pitch at the Allianz Stadium: we were in the entrance tunnel and there was coach Cataldi behind me who said to do what I always do, to be myself and stay calm in the warm-up, while he was talking to me we entered the pitch and I felt nothing seeing that huge stadium for me, who am used to other pitches, and with all those people. It was such an emotion that I couldn't sleep that night, thinking back to that moment".

Is there a specific goal you have set for this year, also related to personal improvement in this particular role? "For me, the first goal since I started playing football is to get to the highest level. In the short term I have to think about improving day by day, trying to play as many games as possible to show what I can do. One ambition I definitely have is to be able to return to the national team jersey, which I had the honour of wearing two years ago".

Speaking of the national team, tell us more about your experience... "I was called up for the goalkeeping training camp with Italy's Under 18 team and I also played an official match against Spain, although I didn't play on that occasion. I remember that it was my first year at Hellas and it was a very strong emotion to know that I had to go with the national team to do the goalkeeping stage. Then later one day I was in the city centre with Nwanege, who was my partner in the Under 18 team and is also now in the Primavera team, and we were walking behind Via Mazzini, in the city centre, when we were coming out of a shop and a message came on my phone. The first to realise it was Karlson (Nwanege, ed) who said to me: ‘It's the national team. What a great emotion".

You are one of the Hellas youth players who chose to live in the hostel run by the club, what can you tell us about your experience? "I've always enjoyed my time at the hostel since I arrived. For me it was a totally new experience to go away from home, to change friends and school, but here I was never alone. There are fantastic tutors who look after us: the most experienced is definitely Santo Cappellini who is always very helpful for every need, and for us he is practically a daddy in the situation, then there are Leonardo D'Onofrio and since this year also Matteo Bartoli, two younger boys who are always very helpful and who help us a lot".

Being from another city, how did you experience the move to Hellas Verona and what does it mean to you to represent this club? "The transition was very nice as much as it was difficult, because changing city and habits is never easy. Here I changed schools, and I first went to ‘Dante Alighieri’ and then completed my last year online with IES Dini, still attending the sports science course. Now that I've finished school I'm about to enrol at university, in the Sport and Football Management course".

Do you have any special memories or special moments you've experienced since arriving at Hellas, perhaps related to a game or an episode off the pitch? "When I talk about it with my friends I always remember that when I arrived at Verona I came from an Under 17 elite team, and a few months later I was called up by the national team, something I never expected before, and also that season I was called up for Serie A. These two were very strong emotions that I was able to experience thanks to Hellas. As a match, however, I remember well an Under 18 match against Atalanta, in Bergamo, which is my hometown, and we won 0-5. Atalanta was also the team I made my Primavera debut against last year, winning 1-2, again in Bergamo".

Is there any teammate with whom you have bonded the most, perhaps even off the pitch? "As I mentioned before I am very good friends with Nwanege, but I have always got on very well with everyone and especially this year we make a good group. Then I could also mention the names of Nwachukwu and Fagoni".

Outside of football, what are your passions? Do you have any hobbies or special interests? "I'm a very quiet guy, who is comfortable even without doing any particular outings. Often in my free time I hang out with my cousin, with whom I am very close, but I also have some special interests such as clothes and also perfumes. With this last passion of mine, I have also got Karlson a bit excited, and he has come very close to the world of perfumes".

How do you like living in Verona? Is there something about the city that you particularly like? "I like it very much in Verona also because it is a city that reminds me a lot of home, not too big but not too small either. There's a lot more tourism here than in Bergamo but it's nice, I really like going to the Torricelle to see the city from above. I also really like the food, especially the risotto".

Is it true that you had a chance to talk to Buffon? "Yes, I spoke to him on the phone. He is of course my idol, as for many goalkeepers of my generation he is a true reference point. When our Team Manager Lorenzo Salvadori, who was attending the Direttore Sportivo course at Coverciano with him, put him on the phone I couldn't believe it, it was a great emotion to talk to him for two minutes, also because the first game I saw at the stadium was in Bergamo for Atalanta-Juventus, and I had only gone to see Buffon live. I even have his autographed gloves at home. I would also like to meet him live, but just talking to him was a great emotion".

How important was the family in your growth? "Very much. My mum Pierangela was the one who was a bit more sentimental when I left, as was my little brother Cristian, but it was also difficult for me to leave at the beginning and I'm very happy when I see them again. Then there's my cousin Mattia with whom I've always been very close and he's my best friend, he also plays football and when we will be older, maybe at the end of our careers, we promised to play together. And of course I must also thank my father Marco, who has been fundamental. As a child I played basketball but then I realised, thanks also to them, that football was my passion".

Who among your fellow defenders gives you the most confidence in front of goal? "They are all great players, with whom I get on very well and in whom I have complete confidence, ready to do anything to defend the goal".

Who do you think is the most technical player in the team? And who has surprised you with his speed? "I really like Pavanati, Monticelli and Devoti for the way they handle the ball, while on speed I say Agbonifo and Philippe".

Is there anyone in the team who has ‘particular’ musical tastes? Who sets the music in the dressing room and what music do you usually listen to? "I don't know about particular tastes, but Zouaghi and I often put on the music in the locker room, we can say we are the DJs of the team. Otherwise I listen to pretty much every kind of music, from rap to 80s/90s music".

Between you, Zouaghi, Magro, Castagnini and Troselj, who is better on penalty kicks? "I think we all do well and can have our say. If I had to name a name I would say Zouaghi because I have seen him save some penalties very well, but it is also a special situation that is studied specifically for each game".

As a goalkeeper, do you prefer to make a great save or watch your team score a goal? "I would say it depends on what time of the game it is, whether a big save is needed or a goal is needed".

Finally, is there anyone in particular you would like to thank? "I absolutely have to thank all the trainers and staff I've had. In particular coach Castiglioni, coach Filippi and coach Cataldi, who was the first team coach when I arrived. Castiglioni helped me a lot from a mental and technical point of view, always spurring me on to give my best, while Cataldi welcomed me very well from the first moment I arrived, also welcoming me into the first team. I consider myself lucky to work with them, they are great professionals".