The former Juventus striker comments on the moment of Spalletti’s team: “They’re in the running for the Champions League and it’s enough to compare Yildiz to Del Piero” and tells more than one anecdote about his career as a striker: “I grew up with the myth of Maradona, the best in history”
“Conceiçao’s goal is worth the price of the ticket alone, really beautiful.” Word of Fabio Quagliarella, someone who has scored a lot in his career (239 goals overall, 182 in Serie A) and often left opposing goalkeepers, teammates and fans speechless with the spectacular nature of his goals, all instinct, madness and ballistic ability. The former striker of Sampdoria, Napoli, Turin and Juventus – three championships in a row with Conte’s Bianconeri and now a commentator on Sky Sport, is the professor of impossible goals.
Which category does Conceiçao’s fireball against Roma belong to?
“It’s a shot with a very high difficulty coefficient. In those cases you have an 80 percent chance of kicking on the corner and a 20 percent chance of finding the target because the ball bounces in front of you. Conceiçao not only hit the target, but sent the ball into the seven. Timing and impact were perfect. Hats off, though…”
“Maybe not always so good, but someone like Conceiçao must have more of an impact in the final metres. As Spalletti says, the Portuguese has the quality to score and provide many more assists. There are only a few 4 goals between Serie A and Cups. Chico must become a winger with at least 7-8 goals in the championship and as many decisive passes. He lacks nothing: he must try harder and without thinking too much, like at the Olimpico.”
Is Conceiçao’s goal the best of the championship?
“It is certainly among the best together with Folorunsho’s one on Friday in Cagliari-Parma and Dimarco’s against Genoa. Three different conclusions, but all very complicated. Folorunsho found a crazy trajectory and from an almost impossible position; Dimarco had very little shooting angle and Conceiçao hit the ball in an extraordinary way. Let’s say that on the last day we were really lucky.”
My favorite goal, in terms of gesture and difficulty, is the flying backheel with which I scored against Napoli with the Sampdoria shirt.”
Who do you expect the next video game shot in the league to be?
“Hojlund, Leao, Dybala, Marcus Thuram. And obviously Yildiz, who is the strongest of Juventus in terms of distance. The Turk has incredible shots and sacrifices himself a lot even when not in possession. By avoiding some retreats he can become even more lucid in front of goal.”
Is Yildiz closer to his legend Del Piero now?
“Yildiz is fantastic, but we don’t do his best when we compare him to Del Piero. I played with Ale and we’re talking about an absolute champion.”
What is the secret of impossible goals?
“You have to have them inside. They are a mix of ballistic ability and madness: when I saw a ball to kick on the fly I didn’t think twice about it. You must never be afraid of shooting in a corner, which obviously happens.”
Have you ever scored like Conceiçao?
“It may be, even if I preferred the conclusion to the flight.”
The podium of his most spectacular goals?
“My favorite goal, in terms of gesture and difficulty, is the flying backheel with which I scored against Napoli with the Sampdoria shirt. In second place, again with Samp, was the goal against Chievo almost from midfield. And then in my time at Napoli the shot from the corner in the match in Bergamo against Atalanta.”
“The best goals, especially lobs, were scored in training, where you are more relaxed. I always tried to surprise my goalkeepers during matches”
During his time at Juventus, Tevez said: “Quagliarella is the player who most impressed me…”.
“With Carlos we kicked on goal at the end of training, what challenges. Tevez was phenomenal in everything, he had extraordinary charisma. Totò Di Natale is perhaps the teammate who left me speechless the most: a true artist, he invented goals that were difficult to even imagine.”
The compliment you are most fond of?
“Buffon told me: ‘Fabio, you’ve done another quagliarella’. Handanovic and Marchetti once revealed to me that when they saw me with the ball in midfield they immediately ‘ran’ towards goal to prevent me from trying to surprise them. Carlo Osti, Sampdoria’s sporting director at the time, thanked me after the back-heel goal against Napoli: ‘I’ve never seen such a beautiful goal live’.”
Who inspired you as a child?
“I grew up with the myth of Maradona, the best in history. Montella and Shevchenko have also always fascinated me, two strikers who scored a lot and often in spectacular ways”
Conceiçao’s goal was the best of the six at the Olimpico, but Gatti scored the hardest in the 93rd minute: after the 3-3 draw between Roma and Juventus, how do you see the Champions League race?
“The fight for fourth place will be tough and exciting. Roma have a small advantage, but Juventus is there. Watch out for Como.”
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