Conceiçao coach of Milan: who he is, his story

Sergio the tough. Sergio the Italian. Sergio the pragmatist. Sergio the quarrelsome. Sergio the winner. Milan buys the complete package with Sergio Conceiçao and makes a strong choice: another Portuguese coach, a coach with a strong personality. Conceiçao is a different coach on the pitch than Paulo Fonseca, he cares less about managing the ball, is more pragmatic, often plays 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 and seeks more verticality. His teams, more than beautiful, are difficult, tough, concrete. It is no coincidence that Conceiçao demands a lot physically from his players and loves having a group of physical players.

the survey

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The results are coming: in seven years at Porto he won three league titles, twice he reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, three other times he lost in the round of 16. He frequents Europe regularly. The fans generally appreciate it and in the summer many AC Milan fans hoped for his appointment in the days of choosing the new coach. In a Gazzetta poll, in the days of the Portuguese ballot, Sergio got 75%, against 25% for Fonseca.

THE PATH

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Conceiçao had a very complicated adolescence, born into a family that was certainly not rich. At 16 he lost his father to a motorbike accident, one day after going with him to sign for Porto. Incredible. Two years later his mother also left and football became his everything. As a footballer he established himself as a fast, attacking, competitive winger in Italy – Scudetto, Cup Winners’ Cup and European Super Cup with Lazio – and in the national team (the hat-trick against Germany at Euro 2000 as a great highlight). From 1998 to 2000 he was at Lazio, in 2000-01 at Parma, from 2001 to 2003 at Inter, then again at Lazio. He was on the pitch, starting for Inter, in both semi-finals of the 2003 Champions League: Milan against Inter, the derby of derbies. From there he went to Portugal, Belgium, Kuwait, Greece. He finished with Paok Thessaloniki in 2009 and immediately became sporting director. However, his vocation was another: coach. And he was a coach, with Olhanense, Academica Coimbra, Braga, Vitoria Guimaraes, in a ranks not so different from that of Paulo Fonseca. Then France (Nantes) and in 2017 he returned home, to Porto, with a phrase that says a lot about his personality: “I didn’t come here to learn, I came to teach. I’m the coach of Porto”.

THE SUCCESSES

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The statistics he cares about most are probably two. The 10 trophies won with Porto, making him the manager with the most trophies in the club’s history. And the record for points in the Portuguese championship: 91, which few are not in an 18-team championship. Other? Well, he launched or enhanced many players, sold dearly as per the club’s ABC. Vitinha, sold to PSG. Luis Diaz, at Liverpool. Militao, at Real Madrid. Otavio, at Al Nassr. Diogo Dalot, at United.

CHARACTER AND FAMILY

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And the character, the private life? Sergio has five children, he is religious, as a boy he was called Twister, Tornado, and in Portugal they know it: man can get agitated. Six months ago he left Porto when Pinto da Costa, the old president with whom he had signed the renewal, lost the elections against André Villas Boas. Conceiçao did not spare the venomous comment: “I deserved more respect for what I gave to this club.” Then some episodes from the past. In March he was reported after an argument on the sidelines of a youth tournament and in 2019, in the stands for a Porto-Benfica Under 19 match, he came face to face with a fan who had had harsh words towards his son Rodrigo. Here are the children. Francisco has been in Italy since the summer and on January 3rd he will be in Riyadh, on the pitch for the Super Cup semi-final, Juventus against Milan. A family reunion.