Parma, 5 March 2024 - After 28 matchdays, Parma lead the Serie B, with a 6-point advantage over the second-placed team: Parma, led by Fabio Pecchia, are the dominant force in the Serie B and, to personally study the working methodologies of the Gialloblu technical staff, since yesterday the trainees of the UEFA Pro Master have been in Collecchio, at the Mutti Training Center, guests of the Club. Accompanied by the Technical Sector secretary, Paolo Piani, and by the professors Mario Beretta and Ferretto Ferretti, for two days, the students have been able to witness firsthand the training sessions of Parma Calcio and have been able to engage in classroom discussions with Pecchia and his technical staff.

'I still remember,' commented Fabio Pecchia addressing the Master's trainees, 'when I was in your shoes and gladly accepted this meeting because I believe it is very important for trainees to have this kind of comparison.' Pecchia himself, in his personal record, can also boast a Silver Bench obtained from the Technical Sector for the 2021/2022 season when he led Cremonese to promotion to Serie A. If yesterday afternoon it was the yellow-blue coach who played the role of lecturer, this afternoon it will be the athletic trainer, Marco Antonio Ferrone, who will give a lesson to the Coverciano school trainees.

THE COURSE

The UEFA Pro course, the so-called 'Master', represents the highest level of training for a coach. The lessons last a full football season, from September to June, and during the year the educational program includes several internships at Italian or foreign clubs. This is the second internship that the trainees have been able to carry out at Parma, after the one in mid-February in England, at De Zerbi's Brighton.

THE TRAINEES

There are many well-known names in Italian football - and beyond - who have been admitted to follow the so-called 'Master' for coaches, starting with the 2006 World Cup champion, Alessandro Del Piero. Also present in the class are the 2012 European Championship runner-up, Ignazio Abate, and former Italian national team players Andrea Dossena, Marco Parolo, and Giampiero Pinzi, as well as familiar faces from our top league such as - just to name a few - Ibrahim Ba, Cristian Ledesma, Guglielmo Stendardo, and Simone Padoin (the latter was European champion in 2003 with the Under 19 National Team). Also in the class is the coach of the Under 17 Women's National Team, Jacopo Leandri, and Matteo Cioffi, a lecturer in Psychology at the Technical Sector.

PARMA CALCIO THANKS FIGC

For choosing to evaluate the work promoted by the Club and coach Fabio Pecchia with his staff, as already done in Serie A under the guidance of Roberto D'Aversa, Parma Calcio wishes to thank the FIGC for two days of discussion and great interest. 'We are delighted to have hosted the UEFA Pro course,' emphasized the Club's Team Manager, Alessio Cracolici, 'our Club has made all its facilities available so that the organization has been up to the event.' The Managing Director Sport, Roel Vaeyens, together with the Managing Director Corporate, Luca Martines, and the Gialloblu Sporting Director, Mauro Pederzoli, opened the session for the trainees, bringing greetings and the Club's vision, as well as introducing all the managerial, sporting, and non-sporting areas.

THE COMPLETE LIST OF TRAINEES

Present at the Mutti Training Center in Collecchio were: Ignazio Abate, Ibrahim Ba, Dagoberto Carbone, Matteo Cioffi, Gianluca Colavitto, Mirko Cudini, Alessandro Del Piero, Andrea Dossena, Tonda Mateo Eckert, Giacomo Lazzini, Jacopo Leandri, Cristian Daniel Ledesma, Simone Padoin, Marco Parolo, Giampiero Pinzi, Mirko Savini, Giuseppe Scurto, Vlado Smit, Sergio Spalla, and Guglielmo Stendardo.