The tragic story of Edoardo Bortolotti: The three months that cost him his life

When Italian football lost a genuine talent

One of the stories that has hurt Italian football is that of Eduardo Bortolotti who did not manage to live up to what he could. Let’s explore the life and death of the unique Edoardo Bortolotti.

Sunday, April 28, 1991. Brescia, which is indifferent in terms of points, welcomes Modena for Serie B. It is a calm game, a game that no one agonises about. It is also a game, however, that will determine a human life, even though no one knew it at the time. And it was the life of Edoardo Bortolotti, a talent who never made the career expected in Italian football. But above all, he never lived the life he expected, that he wanted, that he dreamed.

But to reach April 28, 1991, we must go further back. Born in 1970, Bortolotti shows from a young age that he is good with the ball. He plays in Volounta, a satellite team of Brescia, from where he was from. With him was Eugenio Corini, who made a career in Serie A. But Bortolotti, although another position, since he was a side back, was considered better. And it would not be long before he confirmed it.

The people of Brescia, seeing his performances in Volunda, take him to their team. He goes temporarily to Trento for a year, plays, improves, and returns to start his rise. And he was probably doing well, because in 1990, at the age of 20, he signed his first good contract: Annual earnings of 200,000 liras. At the same time, Cesare Maldini invites him to the U21 of Italy, where he makes four appearances. And so, Italian football begins to turn its attention to him.

The injury and the “cursed” presence on the bench

Bortolotti, with his long hair and football style, soon stands out. And the transfer scenarios are not late, with Roma ready to acquire him. However, things will turn out completely differently. On January 13, 1991, in a match against Luceze, Eduardo was seriously injured: Fibula fracture. An injury that in those years could greatly affect or even end the player’s career.

In the case of Bortolotti, this will be the beginning of the end not just of his career but of his life. Jalorossi’s interest is waning, he’s not doing well psychologically, and Brescia coach Bruno Bolki wants to lift him up. So, on April 28, 1991, in the match against Modena mentioned above, he makes a decision: He may not be ready to play, but he will be on the bench.

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It was a move to boost the morale of the 21-year-old full-back, but no one imagined the sequel. From the moment he was on the bench, he was also a candidate for anti-doping control. His name will be drawn to pass a test and the result is shocking: Positive in cocaine use. A month earlier, Italian football had turned upside down with Diego Maradona’s cocaine. For Bortolotti, therefore, there was no way out.

“One day I will tell you my story…”

He will be punished with a 15-month ban, which will become 12 shortly after. That, however, did not matter anymore. “I am ashamed of what happened. The serious injury, the separation with my girlfriend and I got carried away, I do not know what to say “, are his words and from that moment the countdown begins. Reports of the time write that Edoardo was a calm, quiet, low-key child, who got involved with bad company.

They say that at the time of his punishment, he was seen in the city of Brescia with people from the underworld. People with a strange past or present. The team decides to terminate his contract, they will take him back for training in 1993, but nothing will be the same. The 23-year-old no longer has his mind on football, he is sure that his career is over. Roma has disappeared, everyone treats him as “the one who took cocaine”, the transfer to Palazolo, a Serie C1 team, means nothing to him.

He will leave it, after all, a few months after his signing, announcing the end of his career. He was in 1994, he was 24 years old, and he was, unfortunately, in the last year of his life. “One day, maybe, I will tell you, my story. “Even you journalists, when you talk about me, always mention my past,” he will say in his last interview.

Bortolotti closes in on himself, cuts ties with former friends and teammates, and rumours has it his family is in serious financial trouble. Whatever happened, the end was in his mind. On the morning of September 2, 1995, at 9:30 am, he jumped from his balcony on the 3rd floor. A neighbour will see him and approach him, he was still alive. A few minutes later, however, the end came.

Eduardo Bortolotti did not manage to tell the story of his life, as he had said. And it left everyone wondering how different things would have turned out if he hadn’t been injured. Or if he were not on Brescia’s bench in that match in which he would not have played anyway.

“I often wonder what would have happened if I had left him on the podium instead of taking him to the bench that day. How different could things go? “I will never forget this melancholic, talented kid who never smiled,” said his coach, Bruno Bolki.