Calaiò today plays 8-a-side football: “What a challenge with Totti! A dream to play in Naples. Conte is a winner “

Totti Soccer Weese, Napoli heart, Conte hammer

Go up and down to break through. He has always done it: long in Italy as a boy, on the pitch as a man. Emanuele Calaiò still does it today alongside Francesco Totti: this time he is not the market, it is 8-a-side football for the fourth season. There is no shortage of trophies to fight for: Serie A with 22 teams, the Italian Cup, the League Cup, the Regional Super Cup and the Italian Super Cup. Not even good friends: from Aldair and Alberto Aquilani to David Pizarro. For them Calaiò sprints and widens the game as in the past because they never liked waiting there in the penalty area. So it was when he left his Palermo as a boy to go to Turin, so it happened in 2005 when he chose Napoli in Serie C with no ifs and buts. Then in 2008 his path and that of Antonio Conte crossed and together they had a great time. That year at Siena was blessed for both: for the coach who has regained his Juve, for Emanuele who is young again. He still benefits from forty in shape and with a smile.

Emanuele, can you tell us about your new experience alongside Francesco Totti?

8-a-side football is a very beautiful sport, a cross between football and five-a-side football. Last year I was registered with Francesco’s team, I played with it during work breaks. Membership was open to all ages. It was a very competitive tournament. 8-a-side football has already taken on importance in ten regions, the path on a national scale must be completed. We want to make this discipline homogeneous throughout the peninsula. The patronage of the National Amateur League can be the key to achieving this goal.

You play 8-a-side football with other former Serie A players: is it nice to be together?

Rotating a bit, we saw many former players who were friends of Totti and were close to me too: from Vincent Candela to Mirko Vucinic and David Pizarro, then Antonio Floro Flores, Fabrizio Romondini and Massimo Bonanni. It was a nice tournament with important visibility.

Differences with 11-a-side football?

It takes a little less effort because the size of the field is different. In 8-a-side football, however, you have to move a lot, in this sense it is close to 5-a-side football, while at 11 each has its role. We must follow the man. There are modules, 3-3-1 or 2-3-2, but there are no fixed tasks. There are more shots than you stretch, you need a lot of reactivity. The timing also changes: we make two halves of 25 minutes each with a small interval.

But so you can keep playing …

8-a-side football, five-a-side football and padel to help keep fit. I do everything, I always cut out an hour a day to move. Once I go for a run, another game of padel, one evening I play soccer. On Monday maybe I come to Francesco. Sport helps me feel good. Some former players have the rejection of football after retirement and prefer to stop, especially if they left from ailing half. I love my body and my health, which is why I keep playing.

How was your passion for football born?

I started out for fun. Mother nature had given me great potential, so the passion became stronger and stronger. I have made so many sacrifices. When I was 17 there was only football. I went to school, did my homework after lunch and then went to play in the middle of the street. Today, between social networks and Playstations, clubs and girls, we sacrifice less. I had set myself the goal of becoming a footballer and I did it. The support from my parents was crucial. When I was 13 I left home, I moved to Turin to join the youth academy. For the first few years I was in boarding school, when I signed the pre-contract to play in the Primavera I took home alone. I grew up fast with broad shoulders: this has helped me throughout my career.

Were there other sportsmen in your family?

Both my father and my brother played football: the first in Serie C in the 70s, the second in Serie B as a goalkeeper in Atletico Catania. We have always been a sports family.

Tomorrow we play Napoli-Torino: what did they both represent for you?

Turin was the city of my childhood, where they taught me the basics. The grenade youth sector was excellent. In Naples, on the other hand, I consecrated myself. In 2005 I chose the Lega Pro by refusing teams from higher categories. It was a historic square, being there for me meant being in Serie A, the Lega Pro was a passing thing. I set myself the goal of reaching the top flight in two or three years and I hit it. I have grown a lot in terms of character. After you have played in Naples you can play anywhere: there is a lot of pressure, there are many newspapers and many sports broadcasts. The fiery and passionate supporters on the one hand push you, on the other hand they don’t wait for you. If you don’t score, people turn up their noses. It is the city where my children grew up: another reason that binds me to her.

Is today’s Napoli great thanks to you? Without that ride from C to A he wouldn’t be here …

I think so, the result of that enterprise is there for all to see. Napoli are leaders in Serie A and are doing well in the Champions League. We were hungry. I don’t forget when we walked the fields of Acireale, Gela and Manfredonia. In the beginning there were problems with sportswear. When we arrived in Serie A in 2007 it all started. Then came good players like Callejón and Mertens, Pepe Reina and Higuain. And excellent coaches like Mazzarri and Benitez.

What did Luciano Spalletti bring?

Your experience. The coach has worked in important squares in Rome and Inter. President Aurelio De Laurentiis made the right choice by focusing on him. He needed an experienced coach because coaching in Naples is not easy. Last year the club set itself the goal of returning to the Champions League and it has been achieved. Too bad for the Scudetto, something more could be done. Spalletti brought freshness, ideas and play. The dressing room is very united, everyone knows what to do, there is harmony. Last summer the club re-founded the squad with young people. He sold important players who had been at Napoli for many years, a change was needed. Who has arrived is making a difference.

Could it be a good year for the Scudetto?

There is an important squad and there are good alternatives to the owners. Napoli has strengthened and will fight for the Scudetto, but to win it we will have to beat the other battleships. I don’t want to deceive myself and I don’t want to deceive anyone because the team has always played very well, unfortunately it has often lost ground in the second round. I am sure we will have fun with Napoli this year.

Didn’t you expect such a large win against Liverpool in the Champions League?

He had an exceptional first half, the Reds were surprised. Physically and athletically, Napoli was fine, they ran double. I loved it, but Liverpool’s demerits also weighed heavily. It was not the usual team, important players were missing, many top players left. Napoli dominated with his game and with personality without fear.

Speaking of coaches who make the difference: what was it like having Antonio Conte at Siena?

It was one of the best I’ve had in my career. He is good tactically and is a great motivator. Conte has personality. If he has to say something he says it: whether it is a player or the sporting director or the president, perhaps for market reasons, it makes no difference to him. He does not sit on the bench unless his requests are granted. When he goes out onto the pitch, as soon as you step on the grass, it all ends. No more laughing, there is great concentration. Antonio only thinks about training and goals. He is a winner. He is a Juve school man and carries with him the DNA of those who are never willing to give up. He knows no draw and no defeat. If he snatches a good equal away from home on a difficult field, he is not happy. When he comes home he starts brooding. He called his daughter Vittoria for a very specific reason.

How were the training sessions with Conte?

The first 3-4 months were very hard, you almost came to vomit during training. Some of my teammates at Siena had collapsed. You have to adapt to Conte, from January onwards you fly, you don’t even care about athletic jobs. You just have to get used to his rhythms. It’s all a matter of adaptation. The summer retreat in the Serie B year with him was traumatic, but then I had a lot of fun. We played with 4-2-4, the two strikers knew each other by heart with veils and against veils, the outsiders flew. We were playing sensational football on an offensive level. Seeing us was a pleasure.

She was the perfect striker for his schemes …

Yes. The coach wants very mobile forwards who play with each other. He wants one to come to meet and one to go deep. I was wonderfully paired with Ciccio Caputo, who had already played with Conte at Bari. There were Brienza, Mastronunzio and Reginaldo: all perfect strikers for that game. In the last 25 minutes, Conte often changed a striker and a winger to bring in fresher people who were giving problems. He changed midfielders and defenders only when he was forced to.

Did staying under his orders for a year extend your career?

Yes. When I arrived at Siena I was in full maturity, I was 27-28 years old, that physical work made me extend my career for a few years. I felt it on me, I had more breath than before. Conte has brought new training methods that have imposed themselves in all retreats. Today the 1000-2000 meters are no longer climbed at Zdeněk Zeman. You work with the ball in distances of 200-300 meters maximum. Working with Conte for a year allowed me to get used to the physical jobs I encountered later.

In 2016, did you accept the Parma match in C as you had done with Napoli years before?

And with the same enthusiasm! I dropped the category to bring Parma back to A as I had done with Napoli. They wanted me teams from B, but I preferred to go to C. There was a serious project with a big market. Parma and Siena were my second homes.

Is there a Calaiò in today’s football?

I was mobile and good in the head. I liked to tie up the game and spread it out on the outside. For characteristics I see myself a lot in Lautaro Martínez, who often comes to meet him and who knows how to play with his back to goal. He is responsive and has great coordination on the fly, he knows how to do stunts. He is good in his head despite his height. I don’t mind Olivier Giroud either, but he spends a lot of time in the penalty area. I find it not very mobile. He is also technically not as strong as Gonzalo Higuaín was in our league.