Simplicio interview: “Parma, Roma, Sacchi, Kakà, Totti, alcohol and…”

Fabio Simplicio remained exactly as we remembered him as a footballer. A little rounder, but always with a smile. He has a laugh that brings joy. And when he talks, he rattles off anecdotes and stories in sequence. As if they were slides drawn from the deck, one after the other, from Parma to Palermo and Roma with Totti and De Rossi. “Daniele is a missed Brazilian. He had the soul of a party animal. Then he was an example, a fan on the pitch.” So many memories. “I arrived in Italy thanks to Sacchi. In Rome I met two people who left me breathless: they are both called Francesco. I saw one in Trigoria, the other in San Pietro. And my heart was beating with emotion”.

Fabio Simplicio, you arrived in Italy in 2004. Why Parma?

“It was Sacchi who pointed me out. He said that I was potentially stronger than Kakà. In reality, Ricardo played another sport. But Arrigo was like a father to me, as well as a great sponsor.”

Do you remember the first meeting?

“He welcomed me to the city and told me to always come in hard. The result? In the first three games I get three yellows. But he told me to persist.”

Parma, what years were they?

“Fantastic, even if I struggled a bit to settle in. They took me to dinner at Morfeo’s restaurant, I didn’t understand Italian and I didn’t understand the irony. Then, as soon as I learned it, we had a great laugh.”

Did you quote Morpheus, a wasted talent?

“Mimmo is unique, wasted no, very strong yes. He had top class, elite football shots. He could have done more, certainly. He is one of those I put in the Olympus, together with Totti. He and Francesco are the strongest I have ever played with.”

Speaking of Totti, did you go to Rome for him?

“I was emotional twice: when I saw him and when I saw Pope Bergoglio in St. Peter’s. And they are both called Francesco. Believe me, a special thing. And yes, I chose her for the prestige and to play with Totti and De Rossi. We had fun. We had a group of Brazilians who did one a day.”

In those years there were news about your lack of professionalism. There were those who wrote that you showed up to training drunk…

“Roma, as we know, is a complicated place for radio, rumors and newspapers. Superb, but tough on a media level. I remember when at the beginning I was injured and didn’t play, people talked about me saying a lot of false things. Apart from everything, however, a couple of times we arrived really drunk… at least we Brazilians.”

Tell us, if you can.

“I’ll start by saying that for me the locker room is sacred, but with Ranieri it happened that we celebrated the Brazilian carnival at a teammate’s house. The next day we were like corpses. I didn’t see the ball. Claudio scolded us: ‘Brazilians, what did you do last night?’. And he sent us to take a shower. We laughed about it then, some time later. He often made fun of us. But it’s not the only one I’ve done… I’d like to tell you about another one.”

“Once I drove my car into a fountain in Parma. I was drunk and I couldn’t stop. We can say it was a youthful mistake…”.

Let’s go back to football. Is it true that Mourinho wanted it?

“Yes, I was very close to moving to Inter. I also spoke with Moratti and I know that Mou would have wanted me in the middle of the pitch. Everything fell through due to questions of money and compensation, I would have willingly gone. But it wasn’t just the Nerazzurri, I had many other possibilities.”

“Yes, too. In that case Amauri called me and told me that the Bianconeri were following me. I would have liked to play with him again, but I’m happy to have gone to Roma.”

Is there anyone in your career who has disappointed you?

“I always had good relationships with everyone, but there was one director who couldn’t see me.”

“Walter Sabatini. He eliminated me both in Palermo and in Rome. In the rosanero he took Pastore in my place, so nothing to say, but he really wanted a different profile from mine. More than the choices, the ways he used made me feel bad. Nobody ever involved me: just a ‘you have to leave’. That’s it.”

Did you have a chance to talk to him about it later?

“Never, zero contacts. But I’m fine with that. I didn’t like how he behaved and I don’t respect him, that’s all.”

In Palermo there was also a clash with Foschi. Or at least that’s what the newspapers wrote…

“Only at the beginning. He called me to Milan to sign and changed the conditions of the contract. I didn’t accept and I left. Then Zamparini forced himself ‘I want Simplicio now’ and started shouting. So they called me back, changing some things, and I signed. Then we joked about it many times with Rino.”

The president is also a particular type…

“Yes, he had a few obsessions. But he was always a gentleman with me. He changed coaches constantly: at a certain point he had 4-5 under contract. Two badly played games were enough to make him lose patience. He told me to always attack.”

What is Simplicio doing today?

“I have many activities including restaurants, shops and amusement parks. I also like to discover players, watch many matches. But I have a dream: to become president of a club.”

“Maybe a little more patient, come on…”.