The Maestro will perform at the Azteca before the debut match: “I’m sorry that Italy isn’t there, I would like a coach who has the courage to focus on young people. Baldini did it, and with a Pio Esposito like this…”
Andrea Bocelli opened the “Fifa countdown concert” in Mexico City last night and tonight he will perform at the Azteca stadium before the opening match singing “DNA”, the official anthem of the World Cup signed with David Guetta, Megan Thee Stallion and EJAE. For the Maestro, who has already performed at the Milan Cortina Games and at the draw for this tournament, it is always a great emotion. “Yes, a privilege. A World Cup has the rare ability to bring together millions of people who find themselves hoping at the same moment, even close to strangers on the other side of the world, and I really like that such a huge celebration begins with music: the tournament and the singing arise from the same desire to meet. A match transforms the rivalry into a game where, instead of weapons, a ball runs, and the music resembles it. It is a beautiful and coherent way of saying that we can stay close and try to build peace.”
He performed “In your hands”.
“It’s a page that I love, the version that I proposed in my album ‘Cinema’ of the theme that the great Hans Zimmer wrote for the finale of ‘Gladiator’. I chose it because in those notes I have always heard something that moves me even in sport, the courage of those who don’t give up when fate turns their back on them and make a fall the point from which to start again.”
How sorry are you that Italy isn’t here?
“I’m sorry, like everyone else, because football is part of our customs and a piece of national culture, and a further exclusion weighs heavily, especially on the fans, who have lacked such joy for too long. Yet a failure to qualify, like almost all failures, can become the starting point for useful and constructive reflection, if it is accepted with honesty. Our tradition remains a precious heritage, and when it is cultivated with patience and competence the fruits return.”
How can football emerge from this crisis?
“I believe that the recovery begins before in the head than on the pitch. It would be nice if this defeat pushed us to feel brotherly and proud of our country even when the national team doesn’t shine. A healthy patriotism is a long-term investment, to build a team capable of winning in the future. Then come the concrete things, time, continuity, trust in young people and a stable direction.”
“I only hope that it will be entrusted to those who have the courage to focus on young people and build over time, with clear ideas and the patience necessary to see them mature.”
Did you follow Silvio Baldini’s experiments?
“Yes, and with pleasure. Fielding so many youngsters from the Under 21s is a courageous choice, because you give the boys space by sending them onto the pitch. And the two victories, signed by an Inter striker like Pio Esposito, say that the youngsters to start from are there, you just need to have the patience to aim for them.”
“Winning the Scudetto with three matchdays to spare and then the Italian Cup was a gift that I experienced with great joy. The continuity of this team surprised me: it kept the same pace throughout the season, without getting lost when things got complicated. Behind it there is a solidity that comes from the group and from everyday work, and these are not things that can be improvised.”
Was Chivu important?
“Very much. During the current season I was saying that Chivu had to be given time and that miracles couldn’t be asked of him; he did much more, winning at the first attempt, as a man who also honored that shirt as a player, in the year of the Treble. He combined authority and measure and it showed on the pitch.”
“I struggle to choose one. Certainly the weight of the captain, Lautaro Martinez, with his goals was enormous. In a team that wins, however, the credit goes to everyone.”
Could the coming year be that of the Champions League?
“As an Inter fan, of course, I hope so. In football, as in theatre, a first act can direct the story but does not decide the outcome. Clarity and patience will be needed, and the awareness that a goal like this is built step by step. I remain optimistic.”
As an Inter fan, I hope that next year will be the good one to win the Champions League
Before the Italian Cup in Rome you went to visit the team in the hotel, what are these guys like?
“Simple and serious, more than you sometimes imagine from the outside. I spent a little time with everyone and I was struck by the serenity with which they lived the wait for a final, and the kindness with which they welcomed me.”
On the same day he visited Sinner.
“A sincere friendship binds us. Jannik is a young friend whom I deeply admire and we also shared a musical project, ‘Polvere e Gloria’, born precisely from the pleasure of doing something together. Finding the time to say goodbye that day was a joy. I especially like his composure about him. What is striking in such a young boy is the calm with which he faces the greatest pressures and the humility with which he continues to improve. These are qualities which, in sport as in life, count as much as talent. In Paris It went well and it’s a shame, but he’ll soon have the chance to make up for it on grass, I’m sure of it.”
We also have a great young Italian in Formula 1, Kimi Antonelli.
“I follow him with sympathy. The fact that he excels in the World Cup at the age of nineteen is a source of pride for all of us and confirms that Italy still knows how to produce excellence. I wish him to remain with his feet on the ground, because it is from there that champions build their longest careers.”
To close, express a sporting wish…
“I wish those who take the field, and anyone who listens to us carrying a difficult test within themselves, to find the strength to play their game to the end, and to win it. And I hope that some of the shared joy of these weeks remains with us even when the ball has stopped.”
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