The former Nerazzurri star’s last interview with Rosea: “I was unmanageable, but spontaneous. I wore long hair to protect myself. The Nerazzurri have always been the team”
We are republishing in full the last interview with the Gazzetta dello Sport of Evaristo Beccalossi, who passed away on 6 May at the age of 69, and carried out on 9 August 2023.
Becca, where do we start? “From cigarettes. I arrived in Milan at the age of 22 from Brescia, I immediately went to Piazza Duomo, lit up the red Marlboro, closed my eyes and enjoyed it. Everything had changed.” Evaristo Beccalossi takes us on a tour of a football that no longer exists and which, however, made the Under 19 boys who won the European Championship loved. He was the head of the delegation, but above all the confidant, the friend you don’t expect, the advisor who doesn’t want to give advice but just open your eyes and make you see things from another point of view. His. Becca is waiting for us in what she calls the “office”: Totò restaurant, on the outskirts of Milan, not far from San Siro. It is not strange that “the office” is a public place: Evaristo loves people, people love him. You decide which football category to include it in. He is certainly a legend and not just for Paolo Rossi’s theatrical piece. Becca is a legend because at 67 years old he hasn’t changed and because he used his talent to have fun in his own way.
Evaristo, were you really unmanageable?
“Yes. And I was spontaneous. I wore long hair to protect myself, as if it were a shield or armor, even if I didn’t like it because I looked like Branduardi and Cocciante. I arrived at Inter and I would have gotten the 8. They gave me the 10, which three years ago my daughter Nagaja had tattooed on my arm. I thought of Mazzola, Suarez, Corso. What did I have to do with them? La Gazzetta made an insert, I still have him at home: me and Platini, the left-footed and the right-footed. What did I have to do with Michel? But against Juve I gave my all even more than against Milan. I never knew how I would play. But if I went back I wouldn’t change anything.
“In short… One real training per week. On Tuesdays I recovered from the beatings, on Wednesdays I went at it, on Thursdays it depended, on Fridays I lay down on the Dellacasa masseur’s bed with cigarettes and Gazzetta and spent the evening, on Saturdays I tried the idle balls. I smoked a pack a day, drank about ten coffees, but my teammates accepted me as I was.”
“Mine. In the evening, Milan was beautiful. I had dinner late, then I went around, I ended up at the Derby or other clubs. On the canals I looked for places where they played music in dialect. In the morning I slept a little more. But I went to the tobacconist, to the bartender and everyone loved me. Even when I missed those two famous penalties: on the return to San Siro the crowd was exceptional.”
“Zero. I would have liked to have done the ’82 World Cup, but my father had taught me to turn a disappointment into an opportunity. And so I followed that World Cup as a commentator from Monte Carlo: a wonderful month. After I retired I worked for Sony, in marketing: there wasn’t the talent there to help me, I made do and did good things.”
Which current player could we compare you to?
“To no one: they all go faster. My best quality was the timing of the passage, which made me identify invisible corridors. I often say this to my Under boys: time makes the difference. And everyone finds the right time within themselves, it’s a natural thing.”
How did you manage to create that wonderful feeling with the Under 19 boys?
“I was credible. It’s not true that the new generations are spoiled, the kids need to be listened to. They taught me their language. Thanks to these canopies (he points to his cell phone, ed.) they discovered who I was: before they even asked me if I was right-handed or left-handed. After the expulsion in the group against Portugal I went to Lipani and told him: ‘You did something stupid, it happens. Now you won’t do it again’. Late one evening, I found twelve of them playing with the point guard. Someone was afraid a punishment. Imagine: “You should be rewarded, because this is how you are a group”. In my time, worse things happened in the rooms. After the defeat in the group, we let the boys go free on the jet skis. We got along well with Bollini. I brought my imagination. I really love him These guys covered their faces with their shirts after every pass. I told them to stop and be happy with their skills. Luckily, I didn’t have a phone. Do you know how much trouble I would have made?
“I don’t know. My heart beats for the national team and for Inter. I have an excellent relationship with Marotta. But after a month without seeing the boys, I miss them. Continuing my journey with the Azzurri or returning to the Nerazzurri team: two splendid solutions. I know how to live in the world, I follow some rules too… I have earned the respect of champions like Maradona and Ronaldo and of the institutions. After the success of the Under 19 team, Infantino wrote to me, who always invites me to the World Cup, and Gravina. And I think with gratitude of Tavecchio, who wanted me in the federation.”
How would you like to be remembered?
“Like a real person. I made a mistake, I paid, but I have always lived for emotions. And if you make a mistake for this reason, is it really a mistake?”.
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