The story of the Serie A ambassador at the Iliad store: “At 14 years old in Florence to see Baggio, after 7 years I was at the World Cup with him. I was playing with my idol”
For Christian Vieri it starts and ends with “happiness”. It is the most recurring theme throughout his chat at the iliad store (in collaboration with the Lega Serie A, of which he is ambassador) in via Torino, Milan: he says that he was struck by it right from the start (“I was a child who coached and played football, what else could I want?”), who now lives there every day with his two daughters and who he even recommended to Francesco Totti to continue chasing her. “I told him to come back to play when I heard what his intentions were. I wrote ‘If you want to go, go. What do you care about people? If you’re happy at 50 years old playing, don’t listen to anyone, go play another 10 years. Even if Roma don’t want you.’ Everyone has to do what they want, he shouldn’t have stopped when he stopped.”
Bobo Vieri’s first steps
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Transparency is the key word chosen for this year by Serie A and by iliad itself, which has become Innovation & Technology partner of the League. Bobo Vieri, on the other hand, has always made it a mantra (“Maybe even too much”, he reveals), ever since he started kicking a ball for the first time on the other side of the world: “I was in Australia. I played as a left back. At 13 I already had problems with the coach, I asked him to put me in front because I had scored more goals than the attackers. I was like Roberto Carlos, but bigger. My dream since then was Serie A and the national team. So I asked my father to go to Italy, to join my grandfather in Prato. I picked up my suitcase and left. My grandfather actually took me to training. He was the only one who always believed in me. He was a goalkeeper when he was young, at that time he coached the Santa Lucia boys: consider that Diamanti’s grandfather was the president. I met Alino when he was 5 years old.” And he pours out the memories of his first experiences in Italy: “My grandfather gave me 5 thousand lire for each goal, in my first match I scored four. He was already telling my uncle that I would become one of the best strikers in the world. But I just trained, I was a child who played, I couldn’t ask for anything else. With my first money I bought my parents a car.”
Vieri’s idol
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The first leap in time for Vieri is also physical: from the stands to the field. “At 14 I went to see Baggio on the curve in Florence, after 7 years I was at the World Championship with him. When we were preparing a scheme I was still, immobile. I looked at him in disbelief. He joked laughing ‘What are you looking at?’. I was playing with my idol.” Two nostalgic symbols of football that once was, “but today’s football is recovering very well” Bobo points out.
the series to date
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“Inter, Atalanta, Roma and Fiorentina have achieved excellent results in Europe. Of course, there is no longer the money there used to be, but clubs are good at looking for young players and coaches, and at betting. Lazio is demonstrating this, as is Atalanta who have been doing it since I played there. We no longer take the best players in the world, but we do take the best young players in the world.” And probably also the most united, as demonstrated by the reaction of Italian football to the illness suffered by Edoardo Bove: “There was a huge hug for him from everyone. You can see that they are very close. The group has always been fundamental, because it brings out individualities.” And speaking of individuals, who are the strikers most similar to Vieri? “There are some very structurally strong lefties. I think of Vlahovic, Lukaku, Haaland… Dovbyk. He’s really strong, you’ll see.” Bobo’s word.
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