The midfielder talks about her view of soccer and her passion for art.

Mariagiulia Tuteri is 22 years old and grew up on bread and soccer: “Like the most classic of stories it began in the park below the house. I always expressed to Mom my desire to play soccer even though she tried to direct me to other sports, so much so that I practiced swimming, dance, and Kung Fu. When I was 7 years old I managed to convince her and played with the Ponte della Pietra club. Until 14-15 I played with the boys then when I had to decide whether to quit or continue with a girls’ team I chose to quit and for a year I dedicated myself to 5-a-side soccer. In 2015 I started playing 11-a-side soccer again with Perugia, first with the Primavera team and then with the first team.”

She is a Perugina not only from a soccer point of view but also anagraphically: “I have many friends who follow the men’s first team and are very curious about the women’s team. I want to make them proud of me and being from Perugia makes me even more proud to wear this jersey. I have the great fortune to be from Perugia and play for my city’s team. It is not a given at all.”

By role she is a midfielder: “I am very hard-working, as they say in Perugia. It is no coincidence that my all-time idol is Gattuso, who wore the biancorossa jersey. I do not neglect the technical side, in my role it is fundamental. If I could wake up tomorrow with a new endowment I would like to be a safe haven for my teammates, one of those players to whom you give the ball and know that things will surely go well. As of this year, I feel I can be an example, partly because my teammates are smaller than me, Valentina Brozzetti and I are the veterans. I have always watched our great halfback, Corinna Fiorucci, and I have tried to take up as much as I can from her. I would like to be able to be an example like she was for me. I always try to work on my mistakes and if I see that one of my teammates does something right then I do it too. Self-criticism I think is so important. From a mistake you learn and you are able to become better. If there is no self-criticism we stop and do not make progress.” While from the collective point of view for Maria Giulia the most important thing is “to be able to all get on the same side, both as players and as people. To all have the same goal and sacrifice for each other.”

There is one game he would like to replay: “The Italian Cup semifinal against Napoli last season, there was a strong desire to go to the final. Instead, I am proud of the game against San Marino Academy, also in the Italian Cup, in which I scored the goal that was decisive for the final victory.”

The world of women’s soccer is growing more and more. If Mariagiulia had the power to change one aspect, she has no doubt what it would be: “I would change the attitude of people who do not know the sport. Fortunately with last summer’s World Cup there was a step forward in this regard.”

In addition to a soccer player, Mariagiulia is also a young artist: “I study a lot because I am graduating in February with a degree in scenography from the Academy of Fine Arts. In which I am particularly busy with my thesis but normally I can never sit still, I go to exhibitions, I’m outdoors. I have this artistic side that I try to bring to the playing field as well.” Oscar night is coming up soon, and Maria Giulia also tried to make some predictions:“Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, a rather atypical Tarantino film, I found it brilliant. Especially for movie fans. But I doubt it will win the statuette for Best Picture. As for Joker, Joaquin Phoenix was wonderful. I think he will win Best Actor.”