On March 22, the Artemio Franchi Stadium will host the “Pepito Day,” a special match featuring friends and former teammates to celebrate the career of Giuseppe Rossi, one of the most beloved and unfortunate players in Italian football.
Florence is preparing to welcome back one of its most cherished footballing sons. On Friday, March 22, the Artemio Franchi Stadium will host “Pepito Day,” an event dedicated to Giuseppe Rossi. This special occasion aims to honor the career of a forward who, despite numerous injuries, managed to leave a profound mark on both Italian and international football. A player who, in just over 1.73 meters, embodied a story of pure talent and extraordinary resilience. His career was less of a smooth journey and more of a long obstacle course, always with the ball glued to his left foot.
The lineup of guests taking the field for him is one that hasn’t been seen at the Franchi in a long time. Claudio Ranieri, the first to believe in him when he was just coming of age at Parma, will return to coach him for a day. Joining him will be Daniele De Rossi and Fabio Grosso, World Cup champions with Italy in 2006, along with former national team teammates. Also present will be Salvatore Sirigu, Mati Fernandez, Emiliano Viviano, and Mario Gomez—figures of a Fiorentina team that once dared to dream big. Adding to the list are Marcos Senna and Joan Capdevila, two pillars of Villarreal’s golden era, the team that Pepito carried with his goals before his knee once again played its cruel trick.
Rossi made Florence fall in love with him without needing too many words. He arrived at Fiorentina in the summer of 2012, when his left knee was already more of an orthopedic mystery than a guarantee. Yet, in January 2014, it took just 14 goals in 18 matches to turn the Franchi into a place where dreams came alive again. His unforgettable hat-trick against Juventus, leading a comeback from 0-2 to 4-2, remains one of the clearest and happiest memories in Fiorentina’s last twenty years. Then came darkness again: a cruciate ligament injury and another long period spent watching from the stands. But his bond with the city was never broken.
“Pepito Day” is about that as well: a collective act of gratitude. The event is organized by Oltre Consulting in collaboration with Fiorentina, with the support of the City Council, the Tuscany Region, and Toscana Sportiva. The program includes a friendly match between friends and former teammates, but also entertainment, music, and Florentine traditions. The Street Clerks will perform at the Franchi, and the Historic Parade of the Florentine Republic will take place, featuring the traditional Calcio Storico. The day will conclude with the 6 PM match, which DAZN will broadcast live in Freemium mode.
Tickets are available on Vivaticket at affordable prices: €10 for adults and €5 for children under 10. Rossi continues to announce new guests on Instagram (@beppe787), fueling excitement with updates and videos inviting fans to attend. The official hashtag is #PepitoDay.
Giuseppe Rossi has played in Italy, Spain, England, and the United States. Raised in Clifton, New Jersey, and developed in Parma’s youth system, he made his breakthrough at Manchester United under Ferguson before choosing Villarreal as his footballing home. With Fiorentina, he scored 16 goals in 33 Serie A appearances, but numbers don’t tell the whole story. Pepito was a unique player, capable of making the impossible look easy. When he was healthy, he was unstoppable. When he wasn’t, he made people wait for him.
On March 22, Florence will remind him of that.
