Interview Brunello Cucinelli: “Chivu reminds me of Ancelotti”

Today it is not easy to talk about the beauty of Italian football, which nevertheless remains a great passion of his: it is not a time for defeatism but for corrections and adjustments, he says. But there is the beauty of Italian sport today: getting excited about it is very easy. Brunello Cucinelli explains the concept to you with one of his polite visions: “My wife and I were sitting on the sofa watching Sinner and she said to me: ‘Think, once upon a time you only talked about football…’. Today we are much more passionate about all sports than ever before, and sport is something sacred, eh? It’s no coincidence that, in times of war, they called it the sacred truce”.

Two years ago, do you remember?, he told us: ‘Football with more grace, respect and loyalty is my dream’. Was it just a dream?

“It doesn’t just apply to football, unfortunately. The world of politics, the economy, families need to change their tone. Human beings need it: our souls are slightly heavy, I call it soul ache.”

Which pages of the code of ethics that you wanted as president of Castel Rigone would you give to those who live in this world?

“Every year I go to Coverciano to talk to the referees and to managers, coaches and players. I would say what I say to them: first of all we need more respect for the role of others. Do you know what they answered me the last time? ‘No one is happy with anything anymore'”.

“It has increased the margin of error from eight to one percent, but it cannot be perfect: it necessarily leaves room for interpretation. The problem is the space it has taken away: from the referee and his responsibility.”

She thought of a barrier-free stadium also to educate ultra parents.

“My father would never have come to see me play and I think that the first ones to not want their parents in the stands would be the kids, today oppressed by the demand for standards that are too high: in everything, not just for football.”

Italy is out of the World Cup for the third time.

“We didn’t expect it. But we can console ourselves by thinking about Italian sport as a whole: tennis, motors, volleyball, winter sports… And accepting the idea that the world of football doesn’t need a re-foundation, but rather gives it contemporaneity. And if I listen to those who know, starting with Fabio Capello, it means first of all training in a different way, letting young talents play in the first team: this way they learn sooner.”

What do you think of Giovanni Malagò as a candidate for federal president?

“I like it. With him at the helm, a golden decade for our sport thanks also to wonderful athletes: for this reason the rating is very high. Then, if you do something that succeeds well enough, you always have those who don’t approve, the emperor Marcus Aurelius already said it: “I hope that my people share more than half of what I do”. But Giovanni is a man of character and value, of this I am sure”.

The right coach for the national team?

“I read various names, I only say this: even if giving up a club to become coach means earning at least half, I would coach the national team tomorrow.”

Is the Scudetto for Chivu’s Inter right?

“As Spinoza taught me: who am I to judge? But I like how he expresses himself about Chivu, he never says ‘I’, but ‘we’: he reminds me a bit of Ancelotti. And he had a great president close to him: Marotta was an advisor on sport and respect”.

Spalletti stumbled a bit at the end.

“I’ll answer you like this: when you took on Juve in such difficulty, did everyone really consider 4th place ‘obligatory’?”.

He told us that he said to Gerry Cardinale: “You have a great project, but in Italy today the means are too inferior to those of others”. Was she right?

“Italian football has a turnover of around one and a half billion; the Premier League has eight. The rest is a consequence. Today, compared to the Premier League, La Liga and Bundesliga, Serie A is no longer a point of arrival, but of passage, of transition.”

But Allegri had the Champions League in hand…

“He knew he didn’t have a very strong Milan and even when he was second, he declared: our goal is to get to the top four. Then the last few games changed history.”

“A lot, but I tell you the truth: watching the Rome semi-final on TV I saw him tired. Not physically: I always look at the eyes of the human being, he was mentally exhausted. And so as a father I ask myself: when does this boy rest, not his body but his mind? He comes from a country like me, he was used to looking at the sky, the stars. Here, if I can, the advice is: give him the time to look at them again.”

Another tip, from a man of style: what color are his play suits?

“We with fair skin and hair have a handicap compared to those with dark complexions. Therefore, as long as we can, white like our face: colors are not made so much for us”.

And the Kimi Antonelli revelation?

“I have a wonderful relationship with Toto Wolff: he loves pasta but it’s bad for him, so I send him the one made with more refined grains. Already five, six years ago he told me: ‘I have a little gem in my hand, it will become a great champion’. Which has another great quality: he always jokes and laughs. As long as they don’t make him angry…”.

But do you always train two hours a day?

“Unfortunately I’m 72 years old, now even half an hour older. Swimming pool, 5 Tibetans, gym but without weights and no five-a-side football, forbidden by the physiotherapist who repeats to me: ‘What if you get a hernia?’. But a few days ago I decided: I’m going back to golf. I started in 1986, convinced it was easy: ‘I play tennis, it’s always about a ball to hit…’. Instead I never took it. But now I’ve convinced three friends and I’ll try again.”