Naples, Spalletti: “Maradona is always there in our matches”

ROME – Recognition at the Coni headquarters in Rome for Luciano Spalletti, who received the award named after Andrea Fortunato, a former Genoa and Juventus footballer who died of leukemia at the age of just 24. “We must be responsible and disseminate the importance of the blood passport to current and future generations”. Then the Tuscan coach focused on the magical moment that his Napoli is experiencing. “Emotional pressure? I don’t know if I actually know how to handle it: what you receive from people is an important love, an important hug. We have an obligation to give back all the love we receive for this sport. We need calm, however: very calm, because we still have work to do and a high number of games to face which does not allow us to have distractions. I am pleased that the team is still so attentive and eager to play matches one at a time, as it is doing” .

Now the resumption of the Champions League is also at the door and Spalletti hopes to see Napoli himself in Europe. “The question is simple: we are a strong team only if we manage to give our best, otherwise we don’t go to recognize the total quality that our group has. If we enter the field a little presumptuous and convinced that something will be given to us office, it will be a mistake that we will pay dearly for. We need to be immersed in the challenge and to recognize it in a true and clear way, through its difficulties. We go onto the pitch willing to destroy ourselves for a result. The emblem is somewhat the latter goal against Cremonese, in which Kim put his head on a ball that an opponent was kicking: he went there to put his face in it anyway, without fear. Eintracht are as strong as we are, we have already watched and studied it , it will be a very difficult challenge. Because then, as we said before, from here on, situations accumulate that don’t make you feel calm and it will be more difficult to be so light-hearted and creative, so good as to always create a show”.

Naples, Spalletti: “Are we at +16 on the second? The city and the fans will keep us on track”

February 12, 2023

But Spalletti is confident and thinks positive. “I’ve had an exciting career since I left with the boys, for me it’s always a thrill to be a coach and go to the locker room, smell the grass and be part of those moments there. I’m a man very lucky, I have coached great players and great teams and I have always given my all. I have no remorse: anything can happen, but I will always live well because I have dedicated my life to this sport and I will continue to do so. When you do it like this, it becomes easier to accept future events”. In Naples there is the extra motivation to honor Maradona. “We have him there, in the locker room there’s that statue of Diego that many go to touch. I also do it when we enter the pitch, because we want to take him with us and in the quality of our team. He won through play, quality, through all those things that fans like. We want to try to resemble him as much as possible and we will always carry him with us, for the lessons he has given us.” The present, with due proportions, is Kvaratskhelia. “Kvicha has sensitivity in dribbling, in caressing the ball, in making those feints that are so difficult to defend against. In this he reminds me of Momo Salah, good in the narrow and precise in finishing, without ever feeling the pressure. Kvara is a calm boy: will have a great future.”