Italian twins move to Wearside chasing SAFC dreams after being inspired by Netflix's Sunderland 'Til I Die

Italian twins have moved from Rome to Wearside to pursue their dreams of playing for SAFC after falling in love with the passion and pride of Netflix series Sunderland ‘Til I Die.
Watch more of our videos on Shots! 
and live on Freeview channel 276
Visit Shots! now

Lorenzo and Italo Rossetti, 23, say they are living La Dolce Vita after leaving the Italian capital for Sunderland where they say they’ve been met with a warm, Wearside welcome.

The pair have long supported SAFC and played for non-pro Italian teams before Covid halted play.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

But after watching the hit Netflix series, which follows the highs and lows of being a Sunderland fan as the team chased promotion, they took it as a sign that they should give playing for their dream club a shot.

Italian twins Lorenzo and Italo Rossetti move to Sunderland to pursue their dreams of playing for SAFC.Italian twins Lorenzo and Italo Rossetti move to Sunderland to pursue their dreams of playing for SAFC.
Italian twins Lorenzo and Italo Rossetti move to Sunderland to pursue their dreams of playing for SAFC.

“We love the passion of Sunderland, and it ignited a flame in us,” said Lorenzo. “In Italy football is all about business, but here it represents so much more. Football is the city, and it represents the growth of the city. Even from a young age, we had a voice inside us saying ‘Sunderland’.

"The owner of Sunderland, Kyril Louis-Dreyfus, is a twin and when his twin Maurice followed us on Instagram, we took it as a sign that our dream was possible and decided to take a chance. It’s not easy, but if you don’t try, you don’t know."

Italo added: “We’ve been here a month and have been going to the Sunderland games, the atmosphere is incredible. The emotion we felt being at the games was like being on the pitch.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Speaking about the response they’ve had from Mackems, Italo said: "We like the people here, they’re humble and they have a purity. People keep commenting that we’re twins when we walk through the city. There’s lots of twins in Rome, but I guess there’s not so many here.

The twins pitch sideThe twins pitch side
The twins pitch side

"We really like Roker and the beaches and Mowbray Park, that’s really nice.”

The twins are spending their time in training on football pitches, and at Fitness 2000 gym in Roker where they’re regulars.

The brothers, who've been inseparable since they were born prematurely at five months, already have a loyal following, with a million followers each on Instagram.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

They’ve had offers to play for teams in Cyprus, but they’re insistent that SAFC is the team for them.

Italian twins Lorenzo and Italo Rossetti move to Sunderland to pursue their dreams of playing for SAFC.Italian twins Lorenzo and Italo Rossetti move to Sunderland to pursue their dreams of playing for SAFC.
Italian twins Lorenzo and Italo Rossetti move to Sunderland to pursue their dreams of playing for SAFC.

Their goal is to keep up their training and get noticed enough to try out for the under 23s squad.

Lorenzo said: “In our lives we have never been followed by the family and so we had to do everything ourselves and, unlike our peers, take a different path. “But that day, watching Sunderland ‘Til I Die, it was as if fate whispered to us to come to Sunderland and now, after two years and so many sacrifices, we are here.

"We play as strikers, chance has it I was born natural left and Italo right. Watching Sunderland ‘Til I Die lit the same flame in us we had as children when a ball was enough and we played everywhere.

"We are so happy to be here and we will give everything to make our dream come true.”