How Pesaola won Napoli's first Coppa Italia as a Serie B side

Napoli have won six Coppa Italia titles (Italy's cup competition). The first came with something that now seems almost impossible: it was won in 1961-62, when the team was in Serie B, the second tier. Pesaola was the coach.

A club used to falling

To understand what that cup meant, look at where Napoli came from. The early decades were full of falls. Between 1926 and 1929 there were two relegations and a play-off, and each time the club was readmitted. Then came relegation in 1941-42, and another in 1948, decided by the CAF (the federation's appeals body) for sporting misconduct.

The San Paolo stadium had opened in 1959. A club used to going up and down now found itself holding a national trophy while playing in the second tier.

Six cups, the last in 2020

From there the list grew. The second cup came in 1975-76 against Verona, with Ferlaino as president. The third came in 1986-87, the season of the first league title, under Bianchi. Then came 2011-12, 2013-14 and 2019-20, which is still the most recent.

Ospina was in that last side. He announced his retirement at 38 on Thursday 5 November. He played 103 games for Napoli between 2018 and 2022, and the 2020 cup is among his trophies.

Napoli's name has not appeared on the roll of winners since. Last season's run ended in the quarter-finals against Como on penalties: 1-1, then 6-7 in the shoot-out. Two league titles came in between, and the fanbase judged those seasons by that standard.

Why 1962 stings now

The memory of 1962 stings for a simple reason: that Napoli won a trophy as a Serie B side. This Napoli are tenth with 15 points after 11 rounds. That matches the lowest total of the De Laurentiis era, and they are already nine points off fourth place, the target Allegri set.

Torino visit the Maradona on Saturday 21 November. The question for the coach and for the people who built the squad is the same as before: with these resources, why so little?