L'allenatore Nel Pallone - Limited Edition Shirt - Pre-sale

Oronzo Canà, a manager who is not well-off and whose CV is anything but impressive, is appointed coach of a small football team in northern Italy , called “Lombard” (“Longobarda”), which has just qualified for the prestigious Serie A.

The decision is rightly met with scepticism by the media, who mercilessly ridicule Canà after a string of poor results, including a 5-1 defeat against Roma and a 7-0 defeat against Milan . Oronzo remains optimistic about his chances, but it soon becomes clear that the club owner is not willing to invest to strengthen the team. Indeed, his plan is to be immediately relegated to Serie B and he found Canà the ideal scapegoat . Poor Oronzo is disappointed but has no intention of giving up. He travels to Brazil with a friend ( Andrea Roncato ), a notorious con man posing as a talent scout/ business agent, in search of a good player. After being promised some well-known Brazilian stars, Oronzo has to settle for Aristotle, a young unknown they find on a dusty pitch at an amateur club, and he takes him to Italy.

The young player soon begins to show his great talent and Longobarda suddenly gets a chance to avoid relegation. However, his teammates, colluding with the owner, are hostile to Aristotle. Just before the last day of play, the chairman gives Oronzo an ultimatum: “Don't let Aristotle play, lose the last game of the season against Atalanta and get the team relegated so that you yourself secure a lucrative contract for next season.” Canà is torn, but accepts the offer. Late in the match, encouraged by his daughter (whose love helped Aristotle win saudade and develop into a deadly striker), Oronzo takes one of the corrupt players off the pitch for his striker. With just a few minutes left, Aristotle scores twice, handing Longobarda a decisive victory that clinches relegation.

In the final scene full of joy, Canà is welcomed as a hero by the fans, but the president fires him on the spot. To his exclamation “You're fired!” Oronzo replies “And you are a hornblower”, letting his former employer know that his young and beautiful wife was cheating with some of his teammates, which only makes the situation worse...