PEORIA, Ill. – Get to know more about Bradley Soccer Francesco Pettinaroli.
Pettinaroli, originally from Borgosesia, Italy, finished the 2023 season with 548 minutes played, three starts, and one goal.
He started playing soccer at the age of five. He played for Scuola Calcio Matteo Bagarini from ages five to 10. After that, Pettinaroli moved to Novara Calcio, a team that at the time was competing in Serie A, the soccer first division in Italy. Between the ages of 15 and 19, He played for Borgosesia Calcio, a fourth-division team, where he played with professional players.
Growing up, Pettinaroli was also a professional skier back home.
"I was in a club for skiing because I live close to the mountains, so skiing is a big thing where I live," Pettinaroli said. "The weekends were busy because I had a race in the morning in the mountains, and then I had to go over to the valley to play a [soccer] game for my team, so it was too much, so I had to choose, and I chose to play soccer and quit skiing,"
In his free time, Pettinaroli enjoys cooking, as he has learned from family members.
"I like to cook, of course, because I'm from Italy," Pettinaroli said. "I like to make pasta carbonara because my mom loves to cook, so she taught me some techniques. Also, both my grandmas are very into cooking,"

Pettinaroli fell in love with soccer while watching his favorite Italian players succeed with Juventus De Turin.
"All my family are Juventus fans," Pettinaroli said. "I grew up with Juventus in my heart, and still now. I grew up with [Alessandro] Del Piero, so you can say Del Piero was my idol when I was younger because he was the star for Juve, and then [Andrea] Pirlo later, midfielder, one of my favorite players,"
Among his passion for other sports, there is a love for fellow Italian athletes.
"I like tennis, now we have a good player in Italy, Sinner, he is second in the world right now," Pettinaroli said. "Also Formula 1, Because of Ferrari, I'm a big fan of Formula 1. I like Charles LeClerc,"

Pettinaroli is grateful for all the good things that happen to him and tries to take advantage of everything life offers.
"Right now, the opportunity that Bradley gave me to come here," Pettinaroli said. "Coming here, I met so many people and met many friends. I learned a new language. I learned how to live with people from all over the world. I'm grateful to have my family, my sister, who is always supporting me,"
He shared his favorite thing about Bradley.
"The relationship that you have with people," Pettinaroli said. "I feel like professors are very chill people. You can talk to them whenever you want, you can have a relationship with them, you can go to office hours and talk about what you need, and they are going to help you. It is a friendly environment,"
Pettinaroli will play his last season at Bradley next fall. He has some personal goals to accomplish next season.
"For the team, I would say go to the tournament because I think the team has good players," Pettinaroli said. "I think we can make it if we play our cards well. It is going to be my last season, so I want to put everything I have on the field,"
Watch Pettinaroli during the 2024 fall season at Shea Stadium.