In 1963, on a suburban pitch where they played with worn-out boots and patched balls, a team of boys shared much more than a passion for soccer. No one would bet on them, except their coach, who saw something in these youngsters that others couldn't: talent, determination, and the ability to become a real team. Game after game, the dream of participating in the National Championship seemed to grow ever closer. But the heart of these boys' story isn't just the sporting competition: it's the tale of a group of young people learning the value of commitment, loyalty, and mutual support, turning soccer into a school of life.
With Quando eravamo invincibili (Einaudi Ragazzi, pp. 240) Leili Maria Kalamian and Matteo Eremo have written a novel inspired by a true story about sport, friendship, and growth, reminding readers that trust can change a person's destiny and that feeling invincible, sometimes, simply means knowing you're not alone.
We asked Leili Maria Kalamian how she learned about this story and why she decided to tell it.
The idea for the book came from watching a documentary that photographer and documentary maker Claudio Rancati had shown me (Il paese nella città, available on YouTube), shot with director Davide Calda in 2011 and dedicated to the history of a poor and polluted neighborhood on the outskirts of Piacenza. It includes an interview with a historic youth team coach, Mario Lovattini (who died in 2025), who recounted the story of Olimpia San Sepolcro, a small team of boys with no financial means, who played on a sand pitch. In 1962/63, Olimpia San Sepolcro managed to climb the league table and live out their dream of the national championship, reaching the final stages in Rimini. However, the encounter with the sea—which none of the team members had ever seen—was such an emotion that it revolutionized the boys' dreams and priorities. This true story captivated me, but I had never written about football. I then involved another writer from Piacenza, Matteo Eremo, author of the historical novel "Football Is Music." Eremo agreed and immediately immersed himself in researching the coach's archives. After finding and interviewing eyewitness accounts, we delved into the story, and a novel was born in which the two narratives blended vividly, intertwining the voices of the coach and all the team members, who tell their own little piece of the story, almost drawing the reader into a film.
What kind of kids are the protagonists of the story?
"They're very similar to those of today; they experience situations, peer relationships, and feelings that haven't changed over time, even if they spent their free time at the neighborhood bar playing table football rather than playing PlayStation. Difficulty and poverty existed then, just as they do now, but once upon a time, families asked their kids to leave school early to work and help out financially; today, compulsory education would prevent that."
Is there a character in the book you're particularly attached to, and why?
We actually loved all our characters. But maybe yes, I have a soft spot for Tullio, because he's someone I truly care about, and it was wonderful to listen to his vivid, detailed tales of life in the entire neighborhood: he remembered the exact locations in the story, the pranks they played on each other, the comic books, and even the candy they ate. The great thing is that when he tells them, he really feels like a child again: in the writing, I let his spontaneous, light-hearted voice shine through.
Once you finished the book, what emotion or feeling remained with you the most?
The simplicity of that world, the capacity for wonder that children still possess today but teenagers quickly lose, while back then childhood and its innocent happiness lasted longer. When the protagonists, arriving in Rimini, see the sea for the first time, it's a very funny and touching moment.
Why is “When We Were Invincible” a story that has something to say to boys and girls today?
Meanwhile, they put themselves in the coach's shoes and can understand that those who educate, even when strict, actually want the best for their kids. The environment is also discussed, and it's easy to understand that disasters were once secretly committed that affected the safety and health of entire communities. The factory mentioned in the book, for example, has only now, more than sixty years after the events we've recounted, completed its long cleanup process. Then there's another aspect: it was the neighborhood that raised money to allow the team to play in the final round of the championship, and this shows that there was a lot of solidarity: what little was given was shared. The protagonists played soccer with makeshift shoes and on a sand pitch; television was a luxury enjoyed by a few, yet they were happy. Today, many kids have designer clothes and expensive cell phones, but they are often lonelier and sadder precisely because they aren't raised to play in backyards or on playgrounds, with the simplicity that existed back then. We like to think that it can be a book read by the whole family and can also be loved by students at school, also dealing with useful topics, such as gender equality in sport."