«Allegri forced me to quit a year earlier. I was afraid I had ALS»- Corriere.it

Pippo Inzaghi talks about himself in the round. The love for his partner Angela Robusti, the relationship with Max Allegri at the time of Milan, the difficulties in resuming one’s life after retiring. It does ne “The right moment”the autobiography (Cairo Editore) written together with GB Olivero, journalist of Gazzetta dello Sport. Today at 18.30 the presentation at the Mondadori in the Duomo, in Milan.

«I stopped earlier because of Allegri»

«It was Allegri who closed my career as a player – reads one of the extracts published by Gazzetta dello Sport —. In fact, in the spring of 2012 Milan and I had reached an agreement to extend my contract by one year. I would have been an important glue in the locker room which in a short time had lost Maldini, Pirlo, Nesta, Gattuso, Seedorf. Thick elements that had left a deep void. I would not have made any claims… Galliani was happy to have found this solution together with me. Allegri, on the other hand, rejected it, he didn’t want me in the locker room anymore and told the manager asking that my contract not be renewed. It was a blow to me.”

The last goal scored at the San Siro

Inzaghi remembers every detail of the last goal scored at San Siro: «I start from the offside line. Seedorf understood in advance, his throw is perfect, I stop in the chest and slip slightly to the right. But I don’t need to look at the door, it never helped me: I “feel” it. Fontana, the Novara goalkeeper, promptly comes out to meet me and closes the mirror for me, at least that’s what he believes. I make a right footed shot and the ball goes into the net. I’m going crazy.” Greetings to his fans: «Before returning to midfield I stop, I turn towards the fans, I kneel, lift my shirt and kiss it. The referee whistles, I see my nephew Tommaso running to me. I hold him tightly, my heart closes. I look at my South and say hello… Bye Milan, bye San Siro. It was wonderful”.

“I feared I might have ALS”

After retiring, it wasn’t easy to restore the right routine, especially for someone as manic as Pippo: «In the autumn of 2015, the ball was deflated for the first time: it no longer bounced. And I couldn’t absorb the distance from my world. I got up in the morning and didn’t know how to get to the evening. I went to the gym, but without enthusiasm, just to pass the time, fill the day and prevent boredom and discouragement from taking over. My body sent me unmistakable signals of discomfort. I’m scared. On the contrary, I say it clearly and without shame: I was afraid”. And again: «I had four gastroscopies and other unpleasant analyses, I always traveled with a purse full of CDs with ultrasounds and MRIs that I showed to various specialists. I feared I had something serious, even ALS. It’s been months of hardship and suffering, in which I struggled to find a way out. Someone calls it evil to live, someone in another way, I preferred to go around definitions and diagnoses and face reality. I understood what the problem was and I overcame it little by little, surrounding myself with the love of the family. My parents were exceptional: they understood what I needed».

Love with partner Angela

Finally, love with his current partner, Angela: «I am proud that I deserved this great love, exactly as Angela deserved it. And it was the confirmation of what I had already learned with football: the sweetest and most beautiful joys come through sacrifices. And so we gradually adapted to each other with simplicity and pleasure. The taste of being together was so beautiful that it erased every little difficulty. Everything fitted together perfectly. Yes, the one between me and Angela is the perfect fit».