Chivu after Inter-Parma: “Me in history? I was already there… Thanks to my predecessors”

First he received the applause of the crowd cheering his name, then he returned to the locker room. A gesture like Mourinho. Not to steal the show from his boys, to try to realize that he has become the 5th coach in the history of Inter to win the scudetto in his first year on the Nerazzurri bench. And maybe even to smoke a couple of cigarettes, which relax Cristian Chivu so much after the matches: “Yes, sorry, I satisfied one of my vices…” confesses the Romanian. Who knows, however, if the Inter coach has truly reached the awareness of having won the championship. “But I was already there before in the history of Inter, I won something as a player… – claims the Nerazzurri coach -. I’m happy for these boys, for these wonderful fans who had to suffer the disappointed narrative of last year, the teasing of those who try to denigrate this club. The boys did well to be reborn and find their motivation again. I’m happy for them: this 21st scudetto is an important page for this glorious club. I wanted to be nice and cool for the interviews so I went to the barber: now that I have white hair I’m as happy as when I was a footballer. The credit goes entirely to these wonderful guys.”

mission accomplished

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“Out of duty, we had the obligation to try – continues Chivu -. A season is a marathon: in the end whoever scores the most points wins and luckily we did it, accepting defeats but being able to react. We did it. Between January and February we won 14 games out of 14 and that’s when we understood. We also overcame the elimination from the Champions League and the defeat in the derby, but we remained standing with dignity.” On the party: “I won’t be hypocritical, but I’m thinking about the Italian Cup final. It’s obvious that he’s happy, but it’s right that the players get the affection on the pitch. Today there was this important opportunity to win in front of them, I went to the locker room for my vices: I smoked a cigarette, sorry if I say it…”. On his merits, Chivu misleads: “I don’t talk about myself. Humanly I’m atypical. A few years ago I had to talk to myself for a matter of life or death and I lost my ego. Sometimes sticks, sometimes carrots: this is how I try to stimulate the boys, trying to avoid mistakes that I’ve suffered. I set out to be a coach in my own way, to be empathetic, not to think about the consent of anyone outside. I try to give my best for them, the rest counts for little. I know what it means to do this job. Maybe in a month I’ll have to accept it with a smile and with the awareness of doing our best.”

Finally, thanks. In particular to his men, who Chivu wanted to have speak in the post-match press conference to allow them to take their credit: “My staff deserves a lot of it, but also my predecessors because they had done a great job making everything easier for me. These guys have important knowledge about football. It’s the good players who make the coaches win.”