Vanni Sartini
Vanni Sartini (born 14 November 1976) is an Italian professional football coach, who is the head coach of Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Early life Sartini was born in Florence, Italy, to a teenage couple - both his parents were 17 at the time of his birth. Inspired by his father, a semi-professional footballer who also worked as the photo archivist for a local newspaper, Sartini started playing football as a goalkeeper. He went on to feature regularly in the Italian amateur leagues, while taking up several side jobs, including as a marketing rep for a software company and as a courier, in order to support himself financially. Coaching career Early coaching career After retiring from his playing career, Sartini started his coaching career in 2008, when he was appointed by A.S. Mezzana as a head coach. He spent three seasons there, before taking the same role at fellow amateur club Luco di Mugello. Meanwhile, in 2010 he began working for the Italian Football Federation as a coaching instructor at the Federal Technical Center in Coverciano. During his stint, he hosted a wide variety of international coaching courses, focusing on macro-areas such as women's football, coaching formation, goalkeeping