Coco: “Capello’s promise and the mistake of leaving Milan”

From the first tackle on Papin to the carefree years in Paris, through Berlusconi who cut his hair, to the failed revenge on Galliani, up to the disco he built at the age of 19, despite his mother’s opposition. Francesco Coco talks about himself in a long and funny interview on the website of the French monthly I know Foot.

testicles

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“I remember the first training session with Milan – says Coco – I was 15 years old and Capello was tough. At the practice match I slide hard on the striker, Papin, but I take the ball. Capello yells at me: what the f… are you doing? And he sends me to the locker room. I was always the cleanest at the time, because I never finished training… Capello one day told me: ‘If I become a professional footballer I’ll cut off a testicle’. But a year later he was the one who made my debut. And he didn’t cut off his testicle.” As a true AC Milan fan, Coco was already one of the Rossoneri captains at 22, but with the arrival of Terim everything changed and the conflicts began. When Galliani sided with the Turk, Coco decided to leave for Barcelona: “And leaving was the biggest mistake of my life.” More paradoxical was the famous South Korea-Italy, 2002 World Cup, referee Byron Moreno: “A ridiculous situation. It’s a shame because with that national team we knew we could go all the way, and I think it was even stronger than the 2006 one.”

knees

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In 2002 there was a return to Milan, Inter side: “Ancelotti asked me to return to Milan but I only answered him if Galliani came to ask me on his knees. Which he didn’t do. So I went to Inter, but at the first mistake the fans shouted at me as a fucking AC Milan player…”. In 2006, Coco touched France: “But I didn’t pass the medical tests, I was finished.” He returned to France later, for five years, in Paris with the model Elodie (nothing to do with the singer, ed.): “Beautiful. I had an apartment in the Marais, I got around by metro and on foot, no one bothered me, I did what I wanted.” In reality, Coco did everything he wanted even during his years as a player, like before the famous 2-0 victory in Barcelona in 2000, with his goals and assists: “I partied until 7 in the morning. I only went home to brush my teeth and get my clothes. And I have experienced many other moments like that. I went onto the pitch and told myself it was time to have fun, but I never lacked respect and professionalism.” Despite the style, going against the trend: “I have always been eccentric, I had long hair and this was not liked in the environment. One day, even Berlusconi cut my bangs.”

disk

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At 19, among other things, Coco had a nightclub built from scratch on land in Lodi: “My mother wanted to kill me, she called me an idiot. I lost a lot of money on it, but I remember a great party: we started at three in the afternoon and ended at six in the morning. But I would advise someone who wants to open a nightclub not to do so.”