Ciro Ferrara
Neapolitan by birth but Torinese by adoption, Ciro Ferrara has played in the two most popular Italian teams (for different reasons as well as in different positions), showing a strength of character which has allowed him to be under any circumstance a leader on and off the pitch. Diego Maradona, Antonio Careca, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli, Alessandro Del Piero and Zinedine Zidane .....just to name some of the players who not only have made and keep on making football history but also who have had the honour and the chance (as he himself likes saying for a joke) to play by Ciro Ferrara’s side. This is not just a mere list of the greatest champions and of a first-rate player (Maradona of course) rather the remark that Juventus defender has lived the most beautiful moments in the Naples’history as he took part in the rebirth of the most “supported” club in Italy, always leaving an indelible sign firstly as a man then as a footballer. Whether it might be a grief, this should concern the national Italian team which has surely a debt to pay to Ferrara. Actually, too often an injury or a narrow-minded coach didn’t allow him to take part in a World Cup or an European Championships: although Sacchi didn’t call him in 1994, he nevertheless changed his mind two years later for the European Championships.which was disputed in England. But unfortunately, as Ferrara was injured he couldn’t be there; in the same way the most serious injury on last February the 1st prevented him from joining the French appointment led by Cesare Maldini.
In spite of that, Ferrara proves to be a first-rate player even when he speaks about himself: “If I had known before this would have been my fate, if they had told me ‘you are going to win with Naples and Juventus but you won’t be very lucky in Nazionale, I would have agreed at once”.
These words express all the simplicity and the greatness of a person who knows he is privileged, someone who has succeeded in playing football, in giving dignity to one of the most “offended” towns in the peninsula, someone who wants to be an important player for Lippi and above all a reference-point for his team-mates.
By the way, in order to fully understand how long and how difficult Ferrara’s rest has been all over these months, far away from soccer and from so many important competitions (from Champions League final against Real Madrid up to the Worldwide Cup-Championships), we need to go back on February the 1st 1998, when he was injured in Lecce, certainly the most serious injury occured in Ciro’s career since he was forced to rest for a long time, too much time.
When do you think we are going to see the true footballer Ferrara again?
“I don’t really know, I haven’t in mind a fixed date but I think I will soon be
completely at the team’s and above all at the coach’s disposal. I have then to recover an acceptable athletic condition, since I have been resting for so long that I will surely need a readjusting period”.
Do you mean all the preliminary training pre-Championships that you missed?
“Yes,that’s the point. But of course by training and playing at full rythm together with my team-mates, I will recover the right physical fitness required to last the ninety minutes and beyond".
What about the most difficult moment you have lived from the day of your injury up till now?
“I have faced a lot of hard times. First of all, soon after the accident occured, thousands of heavy-hearted thoughts crossed my mind ; then there are days during the re-education when you can’t see any progress at all and so you feel a little seedy, there are days on the contrary when you feel better and you look forward to going back playing again. Anyway, the worst period coincided with the fourth month when my leg was still aching and I could hardly walk".
Was it hardest to bear bodily pains or to try keeping patient?
“Probably keeping patient. Indeed, surely. During my career, I had been lucky enough since I had never suffered from serious injuries so that I have almost always played nearly all the soccer season games. That’s the reason why it was so difficut for me getting used to a thoroughly new situation. I have seen many players getting out from such serious injuries with success....but as far as I am concerned, I am not a very patient man".
Who stood most by your side during that period?
“Apart from my family, people I’m keen of and those who are always standing by you whatever the circumstance (in bad as in good times).From the accident up to today I have got many signs of affection. Everybody wanted to know how I was feeling and when I would play again; all that rejoiced me a lot since on these occasions you realize that people haven’t forgotten you. Besides, since in this world one can become between to-day and tomorrow a nobody , in eighty lengthy months convalenscency even but the simplest word of support can bolster you and drive you doing your best in order to resume playing”.
After the first days Championships, even Lippi did send you a telegram to ask you when you would be back again
The problem he was faced with was not if Ferrara was or was not present. The coach and Juventus had to play not only without Ferrara but also without other defenders.....and so. At the end of the last season too, the team had to play without me and nonetheless they succeeded in winning the “scudetto” number 25 and in taking part in the Champions League final”.
Has there been something (or someone) which (who) you have felt resentment to in this period?
“Not taking part in the World Cup caused me a deep bitterness. Anyway, I have been compensated by playing with Naples and Juventus. With Nazionale (for the time being, editor’s note), I was not very lucky, but anyway it’s all right the like”.
What kind of thoughts have “guided” you or have mostly pressed your mind in that period?
“I couldn’t help thinking every day - probably even too much - , about my recovering, about my leg, about my injury. After all, this has not been a problem; although I had always been bearing these thoughts in my mind, they haven’t the least limitated or prevented me from playing back again. In any case, impatience has been the fiercest enemy responsible for my failing morale".
What did that mean to you, a return, a new debut, did you get excited?
“Yes, I did. At that time, I noticed that everybody was expecting me and it gratified me a lot to see that people were waiting for Ferrara”.
Strange to say, today like in the past, Ciro Ferrara has grown up with such quietness, with such wisdom in his words as in his feet. He who was a “youngfellow from Campania”who entered soccer by chance became soon a symbol as a real predestined, he who was nicknamed by Ottavio Bianchi “the new man of the Italian football” in 1987, was a normal boy coming from an ordinary family, who was trying to find his way in Naples, a town which has never been normal. He found his way in soccer or rather we could say that above all soccer has found Ciro Ferrara. By chance, as with those things that occur at the very moment they have to occur because so it is written in the most ancient ravine of every human being’s destiny. Since the beginning, it is clear that for the boy born in ’67 the way is traced and the signpost shows a place called...success.
What do you remember if I tell you Salvator Rosa or Camaldoli (his first teams as a Junior, Ed. Note)
“I recall my motorbike and a great cold. Apart from my own experiences as a team footballer, I remember it was a great time spent with that typical thoughtlessness of a boy who hadn’t got the mania to become a popular player at all costs. At that time I had not this idea at all, I did it for fun, just as a way to practise some sporting activity”.
Ferrara and sports : swimming ball, basket ball, football....and in the end just that one came out from the chimney-pot hat.
“I have been struck by luck in that too. I have always practised some sport: basketball, swimming. As for swimming ball, it is something more like a hobby. One year, I have even been skating, and this just as a way to practise some sporting activity. But never would I have thought to imprint my life upon a special sporting field”.
You first started playing football by chance, but to many people you soon appeared as a predestinate. What merit do you recognise the most to yourself for lasting so long in the soccer world?
“First of all, when I started playing football, it was different if compared with the present day. I mean that nowadays it’s much more difficult for the youth because one is soon beneath the limelight, or being given publicity on newspapers’ headlines, however one can be out of the fame with just the same facility. I think that my parents’ education, their not being intrusive towards me, letting me free to manage this activity without interfering in my work, helped me a great deal. As a matter of fact, in a competitive world such as soccer, you have to be good at looking after yourself, especially at the beginning when you are only 17-18 years old. You need to be strong and never be discouraged when the first difficulties appear. I‘m grateful to my friends too, people with a strong personality who have taught me a lot and who I have succeeded in taking their best sides. The personality I have today is the result of all these teachings, personality which has always helped me to face and overcome any kind of problem”.
It is said that your first idol was Dino Zoff. Is this a sign of destiny too?
“As I’m saying that now, it would sound too easy and I could run the risk of being considered a flatter, however, as I was actually the youngest boy of the company they made me play as a goalkeeper. I was then the youngest, the shortest and perhaps (I underline perhaps) the worst of them all, that’s why I played as a goalkeeper. Of course I had a great admiration for Zoff although now it sounds more like a flattery”.
By the way, statements such as these were written when Dino Zoff was still far away from Nazionale. Suddenly, this consideration makes Ciro smile and removes from his mind the word “adulator” which is certainly no part of his vocabulary...of living.
The debut and then almost at once the Naples team. What did wearing that jersey mean to you, Neapolitan by birth.?
“I think that’s actually the dream any boy has, having the opportunity of playing one day in a team which bears his birthplace’s name. It’s a great satisfaction since it’s not easy to be prophet in one’s own country. However, the most important thing for me is that I have won people’s heart, thanks among other things to my taking part in all the Naples victories. Besides, I have succeeded in being there when my presence was necessary as well as in staying on some standards for so many years, always wearing the same jersey....the “azzurra” one of the Naples”.
The “scudetto” with the Parthenopean Juniores, awarded by Maradona personally and soon after the retirement with him. In that period what was happening in Ferrara’s life?
“In reality, I have passed from the Cadets to the first division without any intermediate stages. I played a very few matches with the Primavera team, I therefore made a real jump. Everything happened so rapidly that I could hardly realise I would miss the opportunity I was offered. But never in my life have I expected to become “Ciro Ferrara” nor have I thought even from the start this would be my job one day as well as my future, since I had considered everything was happening to me for fun and I was in no way obsessed with the idea of fame. But once I found myself by so many champions’ side, I didn’t let this great opportunity slip. I think I have been skilful since nowadays many boys, with the same chances as myself, make them slip right under their noses for a reason or another.
When good luck happens within one’s grasp, one should be able to manage it: in soccer as in life”.
Zoff the idol, Bruscolotti the example, Maradona the myth. Among these three players whose “teachings” did help you the most during the first years in professional football?
“All three have got a very strong personality. Besides, apart from them and pointing out that I have never had the opportunity to play with Zoff, I would like to recall a fourth one whom I’m still close to: Salvatore Bagni. Somehow, each of them has taught me something important and has given me a little part of themselves in inheritance. Moreover, in my small way, I have tried to steal as far as I could some little secret which resulted useful in the years to come”.
That’s precisely what Ferrara himself has been trying to do in his own career with the younger footballers who were lucky to grow up under his wing. What are the happiest recollections about the years in the Naples team?
“I remember everything with happiness, even the worst times, even the hardest defeats. These last 10 years, in the Naples team, have been fantastic for me and each moment will remain impressed in my memory and in my heart for ever”.
Such as a wonderful mosaic made of thousands of recollections : a blue background where the rays of Ferrara’s & his team-mates great successes stand out.
Winning in Naples...
“Winning in Naples is a feeling that only but a few have ever felt. Winning in Naples, winning in the South where everything is much more difficult and where success or defeat are lived in a visceral way, mainly by the Neapolitans themselves, is a unique and indescribable sensation. At that time our victories meant a cause of redemption against the North with its power and its soccer teams. Moreover, the town could finally prove to the whole world, and perhaps for the first time, the positive reverse of the medal”.
Marchesi, Bianchi, Bigon, Lippi, Ranieri. Which of these coaches has taught you the most? And which of them are you grateful to?
“Perhaps among them all, I am thankful to Ranieri for in that season I didn’t succeed in playing at my best. Unfortunately, I experienced with him a low tone Championship and I couldn’t play the way I usually play. On the whole, I got a lot and I think I’ve always done my best with all the trainers, on the contrary, I have to confess that with Ranieri I didn’t succeed in returning fully”.
What about the fanciest recollection of the Neapolitan years?
“It’s difficult to choose but one. However, if I really have to then I shall say in the middle way between the first “scudetto” and that evening when we conquered the Uefa Cup in Stuttgard (with the goal 2-1 scored by Ferrara himself, Ed. Note) equalizing 3-3 against Germany. These are undoubtedly the two of the most intense moments in my ten seasons in Naples”.
And the most beautiful goal?
“The most beautiful goal is the one I scored in the Roma team at the Olimpico stadium. But the most important goal I remember happily is the one I scored against Stuttgard in the Uefa Cup final because it was conclusive for the Naples team to win the Cup, the first and the only international trophy ever won which I feel for that reason the more as mine”.
Which has been for you the most difficult opponent player to beat?
“Especially two who made me spend hard times. The first, Montesano, a dribbler who was playing in the Udinese team. At that time, I was young and that was my first match in the first division : he gave me a lesson I have never forgotten since then. Moreover because a week before I had made my debut at the San Paolo stadium against Juventus and after having scored a goal over Boniek I had been praised a lot. Thus there was the first test against the Udinese wing ; just to remember that nothing is unexpected in football. The other opponent I remember as a “nightmare” was Ruud Gullit during a match against the Milan team at the San Siro stadium. But in this case I am relieved to think that the former Gullit would have cut a poor figure out of anybody”.
You lived the Naples in the times of Maradona, Careca, Bagni, Giordano. What was Naples like from the inside and what was the atmosphere in the team like?
“There was a close friendship inside the group. At that time we were a successful team and so we were subjected to all kinds of pressures especially in a town like Naples. Nevertheless, we succeeded in getting out of even the heaviest criticism against us and this had been possible thanks to the union among us all. They have always tried to turn the team against Maradona because for example Diego didn’t take part in training. But he was the one who would do anything in order to defend a play-mate. That’s the reason why any player who has ever had the opportunity to play with Maradona has never talked behind his back. First-rate players, with a strong personality, always closed together on and off the pitch. These are all the ingredients which made the Naples team so beautiful and successful”.
By the way what has Maradona given to football, to the Naples team and to you?
“All that no player has still been able to give so far. Although he doesn’t play any longer, he is still a personality who makes speak about himself for the best as for the worst. He is anyway a man those who didn’t get in touch with can’t in no way judge. For Naples soccer he will keep on being the most important player of all times. As for the world soccer, no player is able at the time being nor will anyone be able to do what Diego did”.
Another important chapter in Ciro’s career, as in any worthy great champion’s, starts with “N”: the capital letter which stands for “Nazionale”. To tell the truth, this is a chapter with a few though deep paragraphs. Two injuries prevented Ciro from playing both in England ‘96 and in France ’98 competitions. Just to have an idea of how things really went, let’s add the missing convocation for the Worldcup 1994. By the way, what is certain is that the Naples and Juventus defender has been for a reason or another far from Nazionale for too long: in many difficult moments and considering how things went, the team would have certainly needed Ferrara’s skill and combativeness. He joined the Under 21 trained by Cesare Maldini (competing 6 times and scoring one goal), soon later he entered Nazionale with Azeglio Vicini and he made his grand debut against Diego Maradona’s Argentine . In this case too, the “young boy from Campania” shoot ahead towards a shining career : competing 44 times although with very few personal satisfactions if we consider that “his” Nazionale didn’t succeed in getting the qualification for the ’92 Champions League competition.
Did you have more regrets or satisfactions playing in the National team?
“Very few satisfactions, I must say. Actually, although I made my debut in ’87 (more than 10 years ago), having been out of the game of the National team for three years, I could have given something more but things didn’t go that way. However, this doesn’t mean a grief to me, at least considering that I’m perfectly aware, one cannot get everything in one’s career life. Undoubtedly, I was down on my luck, even because as a regular player I have never got the opportunity to take part in any of the great soccer competitions such as the World Cup or the Champions League. Besides, a serious injury prevented me from playing in the France ’98 competition. However, the way I play as well as the way I am, took me to the limelight and granted me success, that’s all I’ve got in the end”. This is ...Ciro Ferara.
Were you most disappointed to miss the ’94 World Cup competition or this year’s?
“Let’s say that I expected not being asked for the ’94 competition. After all, I hadn’t played since a long time in Nazionale. So, it seemed obvious to me not being called, although I couldn’t fully understand why and Sacchi himself changed later his mind about me, calling me back soon after the World Cup. Anyway, I can only blame him for never testing me. It’s true that when I was in Nazionale I used to play owing to a different standard, although I knew other defenders were playing like me and yet they were regularly called for. The way I play and the way I am, have in the end convinced him (but too late, Ed. note). Undoubtedly, to come back to your question, I was more disappointed not being able to play in France with Cesare Maldini and with a team where I could certainly have acted as a protagonist.”
Cesare Maldini, Azeglio Vicini, Arrigo Sacchi ......which are their qualities and their faults.
“Well, anyone can conceive football in his own way, owing to one’s own tradition and personal experience of living. As far as I’m concerned, I have to recognise that I have been able to fit myself to any kind of play. So for example, I’ve played man-to-man for many years in the Naples team and then by area in Juventus, therefore I haven’t got such problems”. Two different standards, a unique successful mentality, a unique great champion : Ciro Ferrara.
According to you, what makes a good coach? Should he be more selective or more like a trainer?
“I think a coach has got so little time at his disposal that he can hardly leave the team his own personal and distinguishable trace. Moreover, it is obvious that each player has his own way of playing and of acting on the pitch, so that the best thing a coach should do is to respect the quality of each player trying to integrate it with others’ in order to build up a....team. But never should he change nor improvise trying in a short time to teach a way of playing which in order to be assimilated with success would need time that actually Nazionale can’t afford. It is sometimes even a hard task for clubs’ coaches to achieve, so no wonder for the “azzurra” team’s leader”.
How can you explain that a strong Nazionale like Vicini’s has never won? What was wrong with them?
“Speaking honestly I think the team lacked a bit of luck, at least at the World Cup. Besides, it was a very strong, befriended group which had the advantage having been grown up together since the Under 21 times. From that point of view, it was much easier for Vicini to put together “his” team”.
Which is the “azzurra” match you most enjoy remembering?
“Undoubtedly my debut. Not only was I very young when I made it, but also because I had to score over Maradona which was a particularly difficult undertaking”.
What about the oddest anecdote you remember?
“Actually, I remember we had a lot of curious and funny times. For example, Vicini’s last period as well as Arrigo Sacchi’s arrival because most of us had already realized (including me) that the venture with the Milan’s ex-trainer would never take place. It was funny because at the last team retirement many of our play-mates realized the new trainer would change everything or almost everything”.
But after all is this not typical of an extreme wrong soccer position?
“Considering the non-qualification at the Champions League change had to be expected. And then, there were rumours about each of us and about our probable or improbable reconfirmation. Not that we accepted willingly the eventuality of being out of action with Nazionale, we could however do nothing but to keep on playing to prove by ourselves we could still be useful for the cause. Some have been lucky while some haven’t”.
While speaking about Nazionale, one can easily see in Ciro’s eyes, in that glance full of light, a desire to wear that jersey again, without proving anything to anybody but only to render to Ferrara the things that are Ferrara’s....a “azzurro” dream. In his feet as well as in Zoff’s words are the ingredients of the magic potion which could make this wish come true and return at last to the National team’s history a piece of Italian soccer history. In 1994 the team which had asked for him three years before without success, insisted: Luciano Moggi is the manager who bought the defender to Turin and Marcello Lippi is the Naples team’s trainer. Ferrara has something to add on this subject:
“At that time, the trainer was not only in touch with Juventus. In fact , at the beginning he even asked me if I wanted to join another team. Anyway, Juventus was the first club to ask for Ferrara, afterwards everything stopped for a while. At that time Parma, Roma, Lazio were showing interest too. However, my aim was to move to Turin. I had already experienced the golden years of the Naples team, and I intended to keep on playing at high levels: only Juventus could offer this opportunity to me, although the “bianconeri” hadn’t won a championship in nine seasons.At the age of 27, after a lot of victories, I wanted to test myself, I wanted to see if I could succeed even far from my native town and from people who loved me. I am still very satisfied of my choice”.
Naples and Turin, two different cities, but the same great Ciro Ferrara. What’s the secret?
“The secret is probably my good character which helps me to face any kind of situation with irony. As I knew I had to face a quite different town compared to Naples, I gave priority to my serenity and to my seriousness : advantages which have given good results in Turin as they had in Naples”.
With Ferrara, Lippi and Paulo Sousa Juventus win immediately. What do you remember about that first year with the “bianconeri”. And above all what happened in the dressing-room in Foggia?
“In Foggia, nothing special happened. In a few words, we realized that we had played a completely wrong match which may always occur in a Championship time. Last season too, after a Juventus-Naples match which ended in a 2-2 draw, we decided to gather in order to clear up as we were aware we had been living a bad time. It’s sometimes useful to clear up for the team. In Foggia, we were just at the beginning, therefore explaining ourselves had more effect”. A whisper, the glance out of the terrace as if seeking beyond, in the memory the most important recollections, the least common words to tell to himself as well as to others the “bianconera” history, the well-known history, full of victories, of cups raised up to the sky and trophies you can hardly find anywhere else.
“’Bianconero’ first year has been great above all for winning the “scudetto” in the end. Not only the “scudetto”, but also “Coppa Italia” and Uefa Cup finals during the first season........really unforgettable”.
Do you consider Marcello Lippi as a great tactician or a practical able to catch the best part of each player?
“I think the second definition is the correct one. He is able to get the best from his players, he knows the very moment he has to let the team free and on the contrary when he has to press and to impose himself. Besides, he has always had a group of players at his disposal, the famous group which helps him try to “explain” to the “new players” what playing in the Juventus team means, what the “bianconero” and mentality are like. Moreover, I think that one of his best qualities is that he can manage to create each year a strong, befriended team able to pursue the same goals”.
When you first arrived in Turin who became your best mate at once?
“Gianluca Vialli. We had known each other for some time, we had been team-mates in the Nazionale, that’s why it was really easy to become his friend. By the way, I have always got on well with everybody either in Naples or in Turin. The team is like another family for me so I couldn’t but get on well with all my team-mates. Now the player-mates I’m closest to are Del Piero and Di Livio, above all because we have known each other for so long that we know each other’s best and worst side”.
You have already played with Maradona,Zola, Baggio, Del Piero and Zidane. What have they got in common and what is on the contrary the most significant difference between them all?
All of them have in common the number 10 (either in the team club or in the National team). Beside, they were lucky to play in the same team as Ciro Ferrara for as an opponent I could have certainly been a hard nut to crack for all the players”...the burst of laughing after these words reveals the man and the champion who exalted Naples’ and Turin’s supporters so much.
“The difference? Great champions even from a human point of view. Diego Armando Maradona: a unique first-rate player”.
How was Juventus considered in Naples....?
“The opponent of always. For the Neapolitans, it was enough to beat the “bianconeri” to save an entire season. Then , since Maradona’s arrival, when we started winning, things changed a little. Even because the most important opponent had become the Milan team with the trio Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten”.
When you first arrived at Juventus, how did you imagine to be and what did you expect from this club?
“Of course I didn’t have a precise idea, but for what I had read and heard of in previous years. Anyhow, I expected a serious milieu where I have tried to bring my qualities and my personality. Of course I mean in the team. At any rate, Juventus is a club which has existed for more than a hundred years and I think its strength is due thanks to its big organization”.
What’s your most important victory as a Juventus player?
“The European Cup because I had never won it before while I had already won five league championships. The Champion League we won was extraordinary, and what’s more in Rome”.
What did you feel when you stood in front Van Der Sar to kick the penalty?
“In those moments, one has to be unconscious. First of all, I have never been a penalty-goal player, however at that moment I realized that no player wanted to kick the penalty goals. Among other things, I had had an injection to my ankle just before the match started and I tried to tell Lippi, who answered me: “I don’t care, go for it”. The strange thing is that if you miss a penalty goal on that- occasion, then you become famous, if you do it right everybody forgets about it. Though I kicked the first penalty, everybody remembers Jugovic’s. Anyway, personally I shall remember it for ever......My heart was beating so fast”.
Who is the most difficult striker you have ever played against?
“Van Basten, without a doubt”.
The most important friend you ‘ve got in the soccer world?
“If I have to name one: Salvatore Bagni”.
And outside the soccer world?
“I have got only a few because I have always lived in the soccer world”.
Recently much talk has been made....about drugs...
“I can speak about my own experiences in the Naples team and in Juventus. It’s true that great care is given to our preparation and to everything concerning our health but this is very strict legally, I am sure about that. Soccer has lately been blamed, especially damaging our professionality although I am persuaded that the footballers are in the end the best part of it. I belong to this category and I am proud of that. I know how one works in Juventus, I know every particular is cared for during our training, as well as the food and integrators given to us but all this happens openly”.
Superleague, Tv rights, Stock Exchange quotations. What does one of the new symbols of Italian soccer like you think about all this?
“Things were very different when I made my debut in the soccer world. Nowadays, however, there are so many interests that we can’t escape from all this. Perhaps it will be worse and worse in the future”.
Ciro Ferrara and family. In the first place as a son, then as a husband and a father. What does it mean to you?
“The only steady point, whom I can blindly trust whatever I do. My job is full of risks and uncertainties and family is a shelter from all this. I have a close relationship with all the members of my family, including my parents and my brothers”.
Paolo and Benedetta, your greatest jewels. How difficult it is to bring up children today, especially for one who lives in a world far from everyday’s life reality like you?
“I try to do my best to educate them as I was regardless of the popularity I have and which indirectly falls upon them. At their age they still cannot fully be aware what my world is like, they know I am other people’s centre of interest, but I always try to leave the strains I have in my job far from my family. As a boy, I used not to compromise my parents’ life and so I do the same now with my wife and my children”.
Ferrara and advertising campaigns. Is it an engagement, an entertainment or a work?
“I must confess that I’m not a cover-man. However, I’m aware, I’m a person able to convey positive messages. I do it willingly, although I never offer by myself. After all it is entertaining”. One more entertainment in a life which is already studded with success and serenity.
Trapattoni and Torricelli’s Fiorentina, two important figures in the “bianconera” history....
“In Florence there is a team which hasn’t won for such a long time like in the Naples team "