Roma’s captain talks Mourinho, Abraham, dinners with Chris Smalling and Italy’s World Cup heartbreak
Alasdair Mackenzie
INTERVIEW
A World Cup is being played without Italy there. You featured during qualification, was that failure down to overconfidence after Euro 2020?
I don’t think it was that. The Azzurri squad isn’t a group that would be satisfied with themselves Before the Euros, there was definitely a feeling – a positivity that was almost strange, it was incredible. We all knew that we would do well. I’m not saying that it wasn’t there any more afterwards, but it wasn’t the same as before, and that was something you could feel. But we still went into the qualifiers with the correct mentality and approach. We weren’t able to make a breakthrough in some of the matches that we drew, for example the two games against Switzerland. Ignoring the penalties we missed in those games, which can happen, we had so many chances to score, and just one victory would have been enough to reach Qatar. That’s something that happens too often – we have a lot of chances and don’t finish them. But I always saw an Italy side with a good attitude on the pitch.
You’re Jose Mourinho’s captain at Roma. What was it like when he was first appointed last year?
It was exciting, firstly because nobody expected it. Nobody knew anything. Even at the training ground, we found out practically at the exact moment Roma’s social channels announced it. It was incredible, because he’s a coach who has written the history of football, transformed the sport and still does everything to continue winning – it’s something he instils in us every day. He’s amazing. In the past year-and-a-half under Mourinho, I’ve had a new feeling. He manages to instil emotions inside you to release on the pitch. I’m honoured and proud to work with him.
How emotional a moment was it to captain your boyhood club to victory in the 2022 Europa Conference League Final, Roma’s first European trophy for 61 years?
The whole run was very special – right from the start, we believed we could win it. We dedicated ourselves to it, and as we progressed, we realised how much we enjoyed the feeling that this competition was ours. Winning it was the realisation of a dream for me. I’ve always dreamed of lifting a trophy with this shirt, and last season was my first real year as captain. Being able to combine those two things in my first year as skipper – the first victory of my career and especially with this shirt, this armband – it was an indescribable emotion for me.
What did Mourinho say post-game?
He didn’t
