Some trailblazers inspire a generation. There is no doubt that Patrizia Panico has moved thousands of youngsters to recreate her goals – more than a hundred of which she scored for her country’s national team – in playgrounds across her native Italy.

Now, she is blazing a fresh trail, as coach of the Italian men’s U-15 national side, one of very few women’s coaches working in an international set-up in the men’s game.

With Italy preparing to head to their first FIFA Women’s World Cup™ since USA 1999, FIFA.com sat down with Panico to cast her mind back to that tournament, where she – naturally - scored twice. We also looked ahead to Gli Azzurri’s chances at France 2019 and discussed her current role.

Patrizia Panico: At the time I remember thinking it was very natural. I thought: ‘This is the norm’, as that was how it had been for me up to then. And so, my tournament experience was very calm, even flippant. But it was very nice as I never thought a World Cup could attract such interest and crowds.

I don’t know! I think this Italy side are stronger as a group as they don’t have just one star player. They have important players like [Barbara] Bonansea, [Alia] Guagni or [Sara] Gama, alongside [Elisa] Bartoli, who’s a vitally important defender. These four players would be their stars, but there are also others like [Cristiana] Girelli. In fact, there are so many players who could become stars of this side.

I think they have what it takes to come through the group stage because the team has developed a lot. They’ve improved physically and there’s great work being done by professional clubs, who are investing heavily and helping women’s football grow. And then there’s the top work that [head coach] Milena [Bertolini] and [her assistant Attilio] Sorbi are doing. They have all the ingredients to do very well in the group.

I’d tell them to live in the moment as freely as possible, because if they start to overthink what they have to do, what results they need, it can be counterproductive. So, I’d just tell them to try to experience it with as much calmness as they can, while being mindful of the fact that a good result for Italy could provide the women’s game in this country with a lot of impetus.

In my case they don’t realise this. They don’t factor in whether there’s a man or a woman on the bench. They look at what their coach has achieved and won. They respect you and listen to you, but they also look into your background, reading any news about you on the internet.

They’re the first to recognise that what I’ve achieved [in my playing career] is significant. They respect me firstly for what I’ve done as a player, but also for how I am as a coach. I don’t think they care whether you’re a man or woman, but rather whether you’re good at what you do, whether you’re competent, whether you have charisma. At least I’ve never noticed any consideration about my gender on their part.

I don’t believe in that way of thinking. I just don’t think it's right to say that I want to coach men or I want to coach women. I think the correct thing would be to say that I want to coach professionals. Then it makes no difference whether those professionals are men or women. That’s how I feel it. And from there a whole world opens up. I don’t think there should be any differentiation.

I never had to deal with parents who objected to me playing, but I did feel that I had to prove to them that girls can play football. I had to deal with scepticism in people who, on seeing you play, would tell you that girls aren’t able to play football. And that's why, whenever I took to the pitch, I did it with the idea that I had to convince everyone who was watching me.