The former Parma and Atalanta playmaker today has a restaurant and no regrets: “I was unprofessional, I didn’t like running. At Inter I’m sorry for having made Moratti angry. Ghirardi disappointed me but the weather was gentlemanly…”
If it is true that every self-respecting detective story requires a murder, that of Domenico Morfeo is a story without a happy ending that leaves room only for regrets. As if we were still waiting for an ending, a murder in fact. Morfeo had a left foot that sang, he was gifted with incredible class and will forever be guilty of having deluded us that he could mark an era. “I have never been a professional. If I had trained well and had a different mind, who knows…”. Instead it will remain a great “What if”, a regret for everything that could have been and was not. Watching him play you had the feeling of having before you a genius who was too tight inside a lamp, a juggler with great talent who was unable to express himself fully. He was a child prodigy all his life, carrying on his shoulders the responsibility of a promise he never kept. Today he manages a restaurant in Parma, he is happy and when it opens he talks about it in 360 degrees, showing himself as we have seen him in his fifteen-year career: true, direct, someone who tells you to your face what he thinks and is not subtle. They range from Adriano to Gilardino and Prandelli up to Inter’s ten and his heart divided between Bergamo and Parma.
Morpheus, let’s start with regrets. Do you have any?
“I’m sorry I wasn’t always a professional. If I had had a different mind, who knows where I would have ended up. I missed that, I didn’t like running or training.”
In 1996 against Spain he scored the decisive penalty to win the Under 21 European Championship: in Serie A, at the time, everyone wanted it.
“I played recklessly, for me it was a cross and a delight. Today perhaps I would manage everything differently. Football was my best friend, it allowed me to have everything I have today, but also an enemy due to some situations I experienced.”
“I have argued with many, I would say almost everyone. The world of football is a world without friends, made up of relationships of convenience. If I have to name one person who really disappointed me, I would say the president of Parma Ghirardi. I would have also gone down to Serie B, but he instead made war on me. But time is a gentleman… we saw what kind of person he was.”
Did we see the best Morpheus in Parma?
“Yes, I felt strong where I was free to be myself. In Parma, in Bergamo, in Verona. Let’s say I didn’t like tactical impositions.”
If you could say thank you?
“I would say it to Prandelli. He gave me my debut, he was a second father. A very well-prepared, capable, intelligent coach. The best I’ve ever had and one of the best in Europe ever.”
In his career he supported many great center forwards. A flash for each. Gilardino?
“In Parma we had fun with Gila. Just think that in training no one wanted him, he didn’t even score with his hands. Then Adriano got hurt and he started throwing it in in bursts. How many assists did I give him…”.
Adriano nominated him. You were together both in Florence and Parma.
“An animal. For me the strongest I’ve ever seen. Adri and I were very close. I took him to the seaside with me in San Benedetto dei Marsi and in a bar we saw some elderly gentlemen slamming cards. So he told me ‘the first goal I score we rejoice like this’. He scored immediately and we celebrated that way”.
It is said that Inzaghi gave her 5 million after she won the top scorer ranking with Atalanta in the 1996-1997 season.
“How hard it was to see Pippo take out the money… let’s say he was a bit stingy. But in Reggio, before the last match, he told me that if I had helped him win the top scorer ranking he would have given me 5 million lire. He scored two goals and cut me the check in the locker room. I took the whole team to dinner, I’ve always been generous.”
In Florence they gave her ‘shirts of shame’, with the words ‘unworthy’ and the € Euro instead of the lily. She, too, responded in kind…
“The important thing is to never lower your head. They didn’t understand anything, they accused me of not committing myself and of wanting to put the club in default. There were even those who said that I invented the injuries…”.
It is said that at Atalanta he earned a starting shirt by hitting a tree three times in a row…
“Prandelli told me that if I caught it it meant I was fine and could play. He took me to a hill and challenged me. I won.”
What went wrong at Inter?
“We were a great team, personally I scored goals in the Champions League and I think I scored mine. But yes, I was number ten and I could have done more. I know I pissed off Moratti, they all expected a lot from me.”
Do you think you missed something?
“I had the qualities to be a starter in the national team, I didn’t have the head. Then at a certain point the rest had taken over football and my desire to play, so I stopped. I wasn’t having fun anymore. Today I manage my restaurant in Parma and I’m happy, life doesn’t end with football.”
However, he never even made his debut in the senior national team…
“In my time there was a lot of competition, but I’m sorry I never made my debut. If I were to play now I would make other choices, without losing my identity and my way of being. I know I didn’t fully exploit the talent I had.”
“No, in fact what I see disgusts me. I would never go back. I find it a false world.”
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED