Alessandro Buongiorno and an old glory of SSC Napoli: the blue club’s defender reveals his idol in the long interview with Il Mattino.
The Scudetto is possible: Napoli wants to fight between now and the end of the Serie A championship. There is no doubt in the mind of defender Alessandro Buongiorno, who entrusted Il Mattino with all his thoughts related to these first months in the shadow of Vesuvius. A bond that immediately became special between the footballer and the city, as explained by the former Torino himself during the interview in question (click here to read the statements about it).
However, the central player also had the opportunity to elaborate on some personal issues, related to the field and beyond. In particular, the Azzurri number 4 talked about his childhood idols and those who inspired him to become what is now one of the most important defenders in the Serie A league.
Ultimissime Napoli calcio, Buongiorno: “Cannavaro uno dei miei miti”
Fabio Cannavaro among the models who have inspired Buongiorno from an early age. This was revealed by the same central owned by President Aurelio De Laurentiis’ club.
Alessandro Buongiorno si rivela ai microfoni de Il Mattino – La Presse – spazionapoli.it
These statements in this regard:
Cannavaro says you are one of the few, rare cases of an Italian defender who sniffs out danger.
“If one of my legends says so, I can only be proud: as a child I used to see him, Nesta and Maldini how they moved on the field and I would then try to imitate them. I am inspired by them even now. True, I try to be “careful.” The defender has to be pessimistic in marking, to think that his opponent can do amazing things every time.”
Are you also a pessimist in life?
“No, no. Off the field I am optimistic.”
Why hasn’t a defender won the Ballon d’Or since 2006?
“Because we always focus on those who score goals.”
But what do you prefer, three- or four-man defense?
“I played as an arm, as a center, as a three to four. I realized that the only thing that matters and makes a difference is application.”
With Fiorentina and Inter he was more in the midfield than in his own area, actually.
“We tried to go and press them man-to-man, and so we had a very high center of gravity. And that allowed us to recover a lot of balls. Obviously, the closer the recovered ball is to the goal, the better the chances of scoring… But what counts is the great cooperation between all of us.”
Alessandro, your first memory of a ball as a child?
“In elementary school, I was swimming but decided to follow classmates to soccer practice. I wanted to be with them. Since I was the tallest of all, they put me in goal. But I was short-lived: my mother said I was getting too cold standing still and the coach was forced to move me. She still calls me today and tells me to be careful. To everything. You never grow up for them. Although now I live alone, in my house in Posillipo.”
An eye, however, also on the present:
The nightmare striker?
“There are many strong ones, from Retegui to Kean who are with me in the national team. But the anxiety that Lukaku gave me, no one gave me. Every time I faced him with Torino I knew it was going to be tough. And when we met again in Castel Volturno I was happy. But I must say that he was too at the thought that I wouldn’t have to mark him anymore…”
La Laurea in Economia e il tempo libero: sentite Buongiorno
Among the many topics covered by Alessandro Buongiorno during his interview with today’s edition of Il Mattino are those related to his Economics degree and leisure.
Alessandro Buongiorno si rivela ai microfoni de Il Mattino – La Presse – spazionapoli.it
Below is the excerpt from his interview with The Morning Post in this regard:
Why did you decide to go to university?
“I graduated from public high school amidst enormous hardships because I was already playing full time. Moreover, even with a good grade in high school, 86. So I took a sabbatical, but in those months of free afternoons, when I was in Carpi, I felt like I was throwing away my time to play Playstation. And that’s when it clicked: also because I noticed that through studying, through books, my performance and learning on and off the field improved. I was understanding coaches’ requests more easily, anticipating things. I noticed, in short, that through study I could be even better as a footballer. And in fact, whenever the younger ones come to me to get their autographs signed, I often tell them, ‘take care, have fun with soccer but you must always do well in school. And commit yourself’.”
What music do you listen to?
“I met Willie Peyote who has also been in Sanremo. I really enjoy listening to him.”
Do you get along well with social media?
“You can see from my profile that I don’t go beyond soccer, if I log on I only do it to watch goals and some game action. I see little TV, I like Playstation, strategy and adventure games.”
Do you know that Good Morning is very strong in the Playstation?
“Yes, I do. Although I play soccer very little. But a friend of mine tells me that those few times he plays with me, he forces me to take a team other than Napoli. He wants the Azzurri, because he ‘wants to use me’….”
How do you imagine yourself in 20 years?
“I think I will stay in the world of soccer.”
His fears off the field?
“To lose myself, to stop being myself. You struggle in my world to live in a normal way, I am doing it. I am succeeding. Here I wouldn’t want that to happen sooner or later, which is for me to stop being who I am. Because I would like to continue to live my life with normalcy. as I am doing now. The way I am.”
