This is coach Farioli: the sexy Italian from Ajax

By Isabel ten Brink | #!31Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200+02:000531#31Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200+02:00-3Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam202531 31pm31pm-31Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200+02:003Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam2025312025Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200083083pmMonday=9#!31Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200+02:00Europe\/Amsterdam3#03-31-2025#!31Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200+02:000531#\/31Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200+02:00-3Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam202531#!31Mon, 31 Mar 2025 15:08:05 +0200+02:00Europe\/Amsterdam3#

On a sunny afternoon, I was cycling home from the office when I saw him for the first time. No, this is not the beginning of a love story. At least, it depends on how you look at it. I'm talking about Francesco Farioli, the coach of Ajax. As a born and raised Amsterdammer, there is one great love in my life that I was raised with, a love that never fades: the love for Ajax. That's why I was a bit starstruck when I saw him drive by in his car. And after yesterday afternoon, when Ajax won 0-2 against former leader PSV, everyone wants to know more about the Italian who has pulled Ajax out of the pit.

Farioli is the stereotype Italian: vain. Very vain.

That Francesco Farioli revealed in an interview with Ajax TV that he goes to the barber once a week was not a huge surprise for me. You can already see it in his neat beard, this man is vain. Perhaps inspired by Steve Jobs, he has decided to keep his clothing to a black sweater and pants: never change a winning team. It looks good on him, and he knows it.

On behalf of all Italians, he forbids one ingredient in the kitchen

Thank goodness, Farioli also wants to make it clear once and for all: PINEAPPLE DOES NOT BELONG ON PIZZA! He puts it a bit more cautiously by saying that he is traditional in this and will never adapt. Another important message from Italy is that you should just buy a big pot if you want to prepare spaghetti. Apparently, there are people who break uncooked spaghetti in half so that it fits in the pot?! Shocking.

Farioli can't play football very well himself

Most coaches of clubs in the Eredivisie are former professional footballers. It is exceptional that Farioli has only played at an amateur level. Perhaps that is why everyone was a bit skeptical about his appointment at Ajax at first, and they certainly did not immediately agree with the choices he made. But his approach has saved Ajax, and he is now the great hero behind Ajax's success. From being at the bottom of the list, we are now back at number one, what a handsome, smart man Farioli is. Really smart, because instead of hopelessly pursuing a career as a professional footballer, he studied philosophy at the University of Florence. Maybe that diploma is exactly his secret weapon.

In love with Farioli? Then I have bad news for you.

You shouldn't hope for anything: Francesco is taken. Agata Alonzo is the lucky one: at seventeen, she participated in Miss Italy, later she appeared on Italian TV as one of the seductresses in Temptation Island. Spicy! But nowadays she is a lot calmer, you know. Although she and Francesco live in Amsterdam, she decided to return to Italy for the birth of their second child. Maybe a bit of a letdown: Farioli stayed in the Netherlands because Ajax had a match to play, while his wife was in Italy giving birth. But well, handsome Italians can get away with almost anything.

Source: Ajax TV