During his time in Italy, Tottenham’s new goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario inherited the nickname ‘Venom’ due to the anger he sometimes showed on the pitch.
It was given to him by two presenters from the broadcaster DAZN, who compared his outbursts to that of the comic book character who is Spiderman’s nemesis.
“They told me: ‘When you play on the pitch sometimes you get angry, you feel angry, so you feel like Venom’,” Vicario tells Standard Sport.
“I hope I don’t do this many times [at Tottenham], because I think we have a big squad. I trust in the lads.”
Vicario may get angry on the pitch, but off it he is softly-spoken and a gentle giant. Last year his parents took in a Ukrainian mother, Hanna, and her son, Milan, with the father staying behind to fight.
“He is my little brother,” says Vicario. “When I come back to Udine to see my family, I spend sometime with him. He is good.
“He is going to school, he learns Italian. I hope he feels good because in Ukraine now the situation is not so good with the war.
“So we try to give a smile to them and I hope they don’t [have to] think of the situation in their country.”
Vicario has found taking the young mother and son in has given him perspective on the football pitch, where his troubles can pale into insignificance.
“It’s a good thing for me,” he says. “When I go to the pitch, thinking about them is important. It’s like a strength it can give. I am happy for this family.”
Vicario’s journey to Tottenham, who he joined for around £17million from Empoli this summer, has not been an easy one. It began in Serie D, but he has worked his way up to the top and is set to be Spurs’ No1 when Hugo Lloris leaves this summer.
“I think I have to be happy with my process from growing up and for what I can reach,” says Vicario.
“For the moment I have to reach from now to the future. I want to work hard with Spurs and I think here I can find the best environment to grow up and reach my best.
“I need to adapt because Spurs are a big club. We have many, many fans so it’s different. It’s my first time in my life [like this]. When I was in Serie D it was impossible to see it like this. Serie D to Tottenham is like a dream for me. I’m inside of my dream, I want to live my dream.”
Vicario grew up idolising Gianluigi Buffon but he has also earned a reputation for being good with his feet. That is vital to the way new boss Ange Postecoglou wants his team to play and the pair have made an early connection given how they both fought to make it to the top.
“We started from the bottom to reach the top and for us I think it’s a big success of courage,” he says. “A big mentality.
“Coming up from the bottom is not so easy. I think it’s a big challenge with myself and himself and I think we have to be happy for our process.
“He told me that the keepers work with their feet and that distribution is important for his football.
“So I need to work a lot to improve but I want to improve and also he wants an attacking keeper, like going out on free-kicks and putting the ball up for counter-attacks. I love it.”
Guglielmo was speaking at a Tottenham Hotspur Global Football Development session with beneficiaries from Telethon, one of the largest charities in WA that raises funds to deliver programmes for sick, vulnerable, and disadvantaged children. The participants were also invited to the team’s open training session in Perth from which all proceeds will be donated to Telethon.
