Conceicao explains ‘great affection’ for Italy during meeting with President | OneFootball

Both Sergio Conceicao and Vincenzo Italiano spoke to reporters outside the Quirinal Palace on the eve of the Coppa Italia final.

As part of the pre-match pageantry, the playing squad and staff of both AC Milan and Bologna went to meet with Sergio Mattarella, who is the President of Italy. After leaving the palace they each spoke to journalists, with MilanNews relaying Conceicao’s speech.

“Good morning Mr President, good morning to everyone here. For me, for my players and for all of Milan it is a great honour to be received here today.

“We are on the eve of the Coppa Italia final, a competition that has its roots in the sporting and cultural history of this country and that celebrates Italian football, its traditions, its emotions and its ability to unite.

“As a Portuguese, allow me to express a personal thought on Italy, because this is a nation for which I feel great affection and which has played a fundamental role in my life.

“My arrival in Italy, in 1998, was a journey that not only represented a new professional challenge, but also a moment of growth from a personal point of view. Italy, with its culture, its passion and its football tradition, has become a second home for me. In these years I have had the opportunity to meet coaches, managers, teammates who have been able to transmit so much to me.

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“I have discovered a country of rare beauty with an unparalleled heritage of culture, style, creativity, a country that has welcomed me and where sociality is the basis of daily life.

“This experience has changed me profoundly, as a professional and as a man. I have learned the importance of listening, of sharing passion and experiences. And if I am here today, I also owe it to this.

“Returning to Italy to lead a prestigious team like Milan, which has made the history of national and international football and which also brings with it the values ​​and cultural identity of this country, is a source of great pride.

“Every day we feel the respect and admiration that the name Milan evokes. Wearing these colours means carrying a part of Italian history, its style, its passion. And it is an honour that we try to deserve every day.

“Being here today, in this place, in the presence of the Head of State, gives an even higher meaning to our journey and gives us great strength for the challenges of the present and the future.

“Thank you again, President, for this welcome. On behalf of myself, the staff and the entire team. I assure you that we will take the field with respect, with heart, and with the will to honour this trophy and what it represents for Italian football.”

Photo by Marco Rosi/Getty Images

Italiano said: “Tomorrow’s final is one that Bologna have missed for 51 years. Thirty thousand rossoblù fans will come to the Stadio Olimpico, with many young people who have never seen the rossoblù colours lift a trophy.

“I hope they have this joy tomorrow. Thank you, President, for having received us here today, I hope that tomorrow will be a great show for everyone.”

As we spoke about in our analysis of the sub-plots to the Coppa Italia final, it is a contrasting tale when it comes to finals for the two coaches. The Portuguese, on the one hand, won seven cup finals as a player and has lifted nine (plus three league titles) as a coach.

Conceicao even has a trophy while at Milan and it came just a few days into his tenure, that being the Supercoppa Italiana of course. Italiano probably hates finals by now given he has always been the bridesmaid, having lost all three as Fiorentina manager.