Stankovic is looking for a way to overturn the Dorian melancholy

Little goes by from a full smile to tears hidden from the indiscreet eye of the camera: a penalty that comes when you are convinced you have already won, another Monday evening spent dealing with bitterness. It had already happened to him in Empoli, when he had anticipated the engagement at the last moment except having to deal with the Var; he also happened in Monza, seeing two points fade that would have been useful in a salvation race that proceeds in slow motion. The photograph of a Sampdoria desperately trying to shake off the melancholy is Dejan Stankovic who goes towards the changing rooms in tears, he who had arrived with the desire to rock the world in a context that promised to be very difficult. He had found the friendly gaze of Thiago Motta, present in the stands to monitor Bologna’s next rival, to celebrate Gabbiadini’s second goal: he had to avoid all other eyes, however, when Chiffi pointed to the spot in the 97th minute

Even with a ranking that defining dramatic is an act of generosity, the small progress of a Sampdoria adjusted not so much by the January transfer market as by the solutions found by Stankovic in an emergency cannot be hidden. After winning three championships at the helm of the Red Star, he has accepted the call of a team that is going through a devastating corporate crisis. He did it for the love he has for Italy, which adopted him when he was not yet twenty, the object of desire of Franco Sensi’s Roma who had seen him blow under their noses from a blitz by Sergio Cragnotti. It took 25 billion on the nail to bring the youngest captain in the history of Red Star to the biancoceleste and Zdenek Zeman, Giallorossi coach, reacted with a phrase as lapidary as it was out of focus: “Paying Stankovic 25 billion is like paying an apple one hundred thousand lire”. But he also did it out of a sort of debt of honor towards Sinisa Mihajlovic, a bit older brother, a bit father of him.

He started working with the little that passed the convent and after the World Cup we began to glimpse a different Sampdoria. The team changed pace but missed the goals: against Empoli and Udinese they deserved the whole bet and lost, in Bergamo they scared Atalanta in the first 35′, only to then give up. And with Monza it was one step away from a victory that would have meant -6 from Spezia. Throwing Amione in defense proved to be an interesting choice, even if the engine of the last few weeks is of English origin: the inclusion of Harry Winks has considerably raised the quality of a midfield which for too long had struggled to put together three passes line. Goals also arrived in Monza, but they weren’t enough. Now the calendar offers him a twist of fate: on Monday there is his beloved Inter, then Bologna, so close to his dear Sinisa, and finally Lazio. Stankovic doesn’t have time to think about his feelings: he has already shown them at Monza, going from a smile to tears for a salvation that seems increasingly difficult but perhaps not entirely impossible.