"Argentina is a fertile ground to show the world where world champions are born."

Franco Capria is an Argentine entrepreneur who is part of the group of young talents that have emerged in the world of football through scouting, to modify business methodologies and propose new formats that unite continents through the ball.

Today, he walks the picturesque streets of Calabria with the same serene demeanor he maintains in Madrid or Buenos Aires. His life has become a whirlwind of activities related to football in its various facets. The ball has been his companion since he guarded the goal in the youth divisions of Platense and Fénix.

Many things have happened from his childhood in Vicente López to this distant present. Experiences as a player, analyst, and entrepreneur in his native Argentina, Central and North America, and Europe, turned this Buenos Aires boy into a businessman who is about to turn 25.

Today, he leads the fortunes of Asesoría Calcio, a company representing young footballers that, through efficient scouting processes aimed at supplying players to various institutions in Italy and other European leagues, expands its services through Focus Sports to institutional sports consulting and the creation of various types of events involving players, professionals, and institutions from different parts of the world.

How did you get into the world of football?

After my youth experience as a footballer, I started traveling through Spain, Italy, the United States, and Central America, generating contacts with coaches, sports directors, and various figures in the football world. It was all about human interaction. I didn't have relatives or connections in football, and the relationships outside the field were vital to my growth. When I moved to Europe, I saw the opportunity through scouting and its new tools to bring players from other places, and that ended up defining my continuity in the field.

What led you to settle in Italy?

I arrived in Italy out of necessity like many compatriots. Having Italian nationality made me feel very welcome and protected, and from there, I decided to start working from here, evaluating the possibility of correcting certain delays I observed in player evaluation, selection, and hiring mechanisms and formulating new ways of working in those aspects.

What differences do you see between European and Argentine football? What characteristics do you think allow Argentine players to adapt easily despite this gap?

The first difference I see is the political management that influences the players' development one hundred percent. In Argentina, due to contextual and football’s own environmental issues, players are trained to be sold, while in Europe, importing talent is prioritized over formative construction. In that context, Argentine players also get used to overcoming a context full of challenges. Argentines, due to the reality they face in the country, learn to live with certain things that are not seen in Europe, and that prepares them decisively to adapt to less cyclothymic environments like those on this side of the world. With all this, the Argentine player, from dedication and heart, ends up offering solutions that in some aspects the European player does not provide with such naturalness.

What is the Focus Sports business project based on?

Focus Sports is a project that was born alongside Asesoría Calcio, a broader business proposal that started two years ago. It is oriented towards the preparation and transition process of South American footballers to access Italian football. For this, training events are held that allow the players to have the appropriate football and non-football tools to handle themselves in Italian and European football. As they are held during the break period, they open up access opportunities to different clubs whose scouts come to observe these activities to recruit talent.

What opportunities do these events offer to players who decide to participate?

The main focus here is on guidance. The idea is to teach them to navigate in another country through permanent assistance for 7 weeks. From the Italian language to training and game methods. The result is a player who goes through the necessary transition before joining the club and reaching the desired opportunity with an advanced adaptation process and better tools to face the challenge.

What economic and sporting development is possible for a player who manages to insert themselves into categories like Serie D, Eccellenza, and Promozione?

Initially, the player achieves significant economic independence and stability. This is not achieved overnight, of course. But if the player manages to sustain themselves, they can live with a certain economic and emotional comfort. We encourage the players to integrate and perform in the system. The idea is not to move from one club to another every year but to maintain a level of professionalism and performance that allows them to even grow within the Italian football pyramid. We work strongly on raising player awareness of this situation.

There is a marked opinion among agents and the footballers' environment that players who end up in these leagues "get lost" from the view of more competitive leagues. What is your response to this assertion?

We must emphasize to the player what their reality is. I believe in the limits that each one has. And our obligation is to make the player understand what their real ceiling is. If false expectations are installed in the footballer, we are setting them up for failure. That does not mean that players who arrive in these leagues have their maximum limit there. They will stay in these leagues only if they coincide with the maximum of their possibilities. If they exceed that limit, they will inevitably grow. Players get lost when false expectations are installed regarding their professional possibilities. Our job is, based on our knowledge of the football world, to interpret and communicate to the players the reality they belong to and in which they can develop as a professional.

What possibility exists of formulating these types of events in Argentina and commercializing them globally as an income opportunity for clubs?

These camps can be held anywhere in the world. The current opening of new markets in football provides significant options to attract players from continents such as Asia, North America, or Oceania to adapt to South American football. Argentina today has the ideal opportunity as a world champion to leverage its advantages as a training space. They can even become genuine sources of income for those clubs that can organize the event according to our formalities and frameworks. As a company, we are open to these proposals and to professionally advising institutions and even facilitating access to potential clients, so they can repeat these actions periodically and turn them into a permanent income source.

How attractive is Argentine football in its current state to organize these types of activities and attract audiences from different latitudes?

The moment is very favorable. The world championship title, participation in the Olympics, and the constant emergence of new talents make Argentine football a fertile ground to show where the great figures that shine in the top leagues are born. There is even the ease of not doing these activities out of necessity for recruitment but as a sports tourism experience that also allows the club to expand the reach of its "brand" to spaces that seem very distant today.

What is your dream goal in football?

Our goal is to grow hand in hand with the players we represent. We have a specific goal with each player. Our task is to take the player who trusts us as highly as possible, and with that, our growth as a business space will come naturally.

Di Pasqua Nicolas