Torino-Juve, interview with Aldo Grasso: “No fear”

Aldo Grasso, what were your first derbies as a Granata fan?

“It was the Toro of the sixties, in which Meroni shone. We had Moschino, a specialist in very long throws, in goal there was Lido Vieri, in defense Buzzacchera and Poletti, and then Cella, with Rosato, who was special. He was called Faccia d ‘Angelo, but he wasn’t joking: born in Chieri, he was a boy from Philadelphia, he was one of the greatest stoppers Italy has ever had. And to think that at the World Cup in Mexico he started among the reserves…”.

Did the challenge go beyond football?

“Yes, at the time the rivalry was deeply felt also because the division was much clearer. The Bull was a typical sign of the Piedmontese spirit, it had an esteem that came from the great history it brought with it. Juve represented above all the Fiat workers, with an operation in which perhaps for the first time a marketing strategy linking sport to industry was implemented. The purchase of Anastasi was functional to that type of planning. It was a great joy for the many southerners they lived at North: they saw an example of redemption in a center forward born in Catania and signed by the club with multiple championships.

The Granata side has always been inspired by the team that dominated in the post-war period.

“The Grande Torino, with Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali, was the first impressive heritage of the imagination of reconstruction Italy. In the cultural sphere, it can be compared to the trend of neorealism in cinema. The whole country found itself sharing the scope also emotional of those champions”.

Can Grande Torino also be an overwhelming legacy?

“For Toro fans it is certainly pride, as well as a treasure of our mythology. However, we must admit that it is always a sort of boulder on our heads. We have reached very high peaks, but we know well that there will no longer be opportunity to return, at least to those unforgettable levels. Yes, it’s true, we won the championship again in 1976, yet even then there was no feeling of being able to repeat that cycle. And we can never forget the wrongs that were done to us, both in previous and subsequent years, when we came close to the title.”

All this is part of the grenade tremendism. How do you explain it?

“It’s a phenomenon with different facets. First of all, tremendismo is symbolic and implies that, when you face Juve, you have to spit blood. Players like Agroppi, Cereser and Poletti saw the black and white and went even more wild. In the seventies it arrived in Giagnoni bench with his fur hat: he was a theorist, as well as a practitioner, of tremendismo: I remember some of his arguments with Causio… He had the determination of a fiery general, he fired up the team and the public. Today, transmitting tremendous energy is much more difficult: so much energy could be exploited to the maximum when you really man-marked.”

Which Juventus player would you have wanted in Turin?

“Definitely Michel Platini. He alone was half the team, despite being surrounded by champions. But he was unique and among other things he never allowed himself to go over the top in derbies, he was very gentlemanly. In his further favour, there was ‘it’s an episode: his biography was written for him, entirely in French, by Gian Paolo Ormezzano, a great grenade. And in fact there was a lot of Turin in that book… I also remember Giampiero Boniperti, who had met all of the Great in person. Turin and therefore held its city rivals in high regard. Back then there was more respect, the public attended Philadelphia’s training sessions: they were closer, everything wasn’t so neurotic. The fans didn’t tell coaches and players what to do, how play: once upon a time there was respect for skills”.

“Who can forget when Aldo Serena scored at the end and Juve no longer had time to recover (Juve-Torino 1-2, 18-11-1984, ed)? The comeback closed by Torrisi’s 3-2 goal wasn’t bad either (Turin-Juve 3-2, 27-3-1983, ed)”.

Who can decide the derby for the Granata?

“In terms of class, I would like it to be Ricci. If we put it on the muscular side, I’d say Maripan: he has the muscles of a Bull.”

What more do you ask of your team?

“I, like all the Granata fans, want Toro to take the field with a particular predisposition of mind. We must succeed, overcome Juve no matter what the cost. I hope that Vanoli, in addition to the tactics, drawings and schemes on the board, showed his players footage from the past, perhaps with Pulici throwing himself into the area. The important thing is not to have any fear. And I want to underline one aspect: for me there was the greatest suffering the month last year, when Genoa, in great difficulty, hired their new coach, Vieira, the whole crowd was there to encourage him, tirelessly and with a lot of passion, without being influenced by anything else. Unfortunately, I noticed that too many of our fans didn’t They push the team enough at home. We almost end up expressing ourselves better on the road. It’s an unpleasant situation and you can see that the team perceives it, at least in the derby. I would like them to support us wholeheartedly, whatever happens.”

Winning by playing well or just winning?

“For me, what matters is that the team gives it its all. And I have no doubts: the important thing is to win, stop. I would be satisfied with a victory in any way, even an own goal in injury time. Because we pay too high a price for bad luck You prepare a team and suddenly you find yourself with the two best players, I mean Schuurs and Zapata. It is acceptable to replace the defender, but Zapata is a fundamental player: he is fundamental for the current team. Turin, it’s a very heavy absence, so I maintain that we are indebted to luck.”