A new name – which is getting hotter and hotter – to add to the list. Milan continues to evaluate various profiles for the coach to whom they will entrust the bench starting from next season. After the discontent shown by the public for Lopetegui, which effectively blocked the Spaniard’s arrival, the option of Sergio Conceiçao, who would not be particularly disliked by the Rossoneri fans despite his past at Inter, is gaining ground. Promoting him is his agent, Jorge Mendes, who has good relations with the AC Milan club. The Portuguese coach, among other things, has the advantage of speaking Italian very well and knowing Serie A: in our championship he has in fact played with Lazio, Parma and Inter between 1998 and January 2004. The one with the Biancocelesti , which remained in his heart, his most important adventure.
lazio
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He arrived in Italy in 1998, at the age of 23, from Porto to replace captain Diego Fuser, who had just moved to Parma after having won his first title (the 1998 Italian Cup) with the Biancoceleste after an abstinence that lasted at Lazio for 24 years. Conceiçao, however, was one of the less high-sounding purchases of what went down in history as the best transfer session of the Capitoline club: Vieri, Salas, Mihajlovic, De La Pena, Stankovic, Couto and, indeed, Conceiçao arrived. However, there was a lot of confusion about the Portuguese midfielder. The fans initially mistook him for Flavio Conceiçao, a former Brazilian international who was much more famous at the time. Yet Sergio began his career in the Biancoceleste immediately with a very important highlight: he made his debut in the Italian Super Cup that Lazio played at the home of Italian champions Juventus, scoring the goal that made it 2-1 in full injury time. That year he scored other important goals: his first two goals were scored at San Siro, against Inter (in a match won 5-3 by the Biancocelesti). He also impressed the Nerazzurri in the return match, on 21 February 1999: that day Lazio won 1-0 and returned to the top of the table for the first time in 25 years. He lost that championship by being overtaken by Milan on the penultimate day, but in Rome he won the Cup Winners’ Cup (1999), the European Super Cup (1999), the scudetto (2000), the Italian Cup (2000). Always serious and focused on the pitch, in the locker room they playfully sang him the song Tristezza by Ornella Vanoni.
a difficult life
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For him, on the other hand, life was very difficult: at 16 he signed his first contract with Porto, the following day he lost his father in a car accident. His mother, ill and confined to a wheelchair for years, died about 24 months later. One of his brothers, however, lost his life at work in the factory. For this reason, Conceiçao is very close to his family (he has five children with Liliana, who he married at 20) and often gives the impression of being introverted. At Lazio they also made fun of him because he showed up at training camp with scraped knees. The reason? During the championship break he traveled an itinerary to Fatima entirely on his knees, as a sign of respect towards the Madonna. “Playing together I never thought that he would coach,” Mihajlovic said. “He had a very reserved character, he never spoke. But people change and now he is an excellent coach, I was wrong.” After being an unmovable starter for Lazio in 1998-99, he watched from the bench the match that gave the Biancocelesti the 1999 European Super Cup (with Manchester United). So, while his teammates celebrated, he did a few laps of the pitch to stay in shape and get his place back as soon as possible.
parma
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In the summer of 2000, immediately after winning the scudetto, he moved to Parma in the operation that brought Crespo to Lazio. His transfer went unnoticed, but it was fatal. In January, in fact, the Biancocelesti had to run for cover by hiring two right-wingers in midfield (Poborski and Castroman) to replace him worthily. In reality, Conceiçao reluctantly joins the yellow and blue team. “I deserved more respect for what I gave to Lazio,” he said, annoyed when he was informed that he had been included in the negotiation. “No one had talked to me about the possibility of being sold.” Yet he remains very close to the Biancocelesti. After just one year in Parma (7 goals in the season, his Italian record), in which he lost an Italian Cup final, he moved to Inter, still as a bargaining chip. This time he enters the negotiation for Frey.
inter
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“I am very happy to be here in Milan to play for a glorious club like Inter – he said on the day of the presentation -. I chose to accept president Moratti’s offer because I believe that this club can do excellent things next season. I am very motivated, especially because the club showed its ambition by refusing to sell Vieri, we were together at Lazio, Christian and I had excellent results and I can guarantee that I will do everything to replicate them this season.” However, his first season with the Nerazzurri ended with a psychodrama: on 5 May 2002 he lost the Scudetto on the last day, being beaten at the Olimpico by his Lazio team. That day Conceiçao remained on the pitch for the first 60 minutes and went out with the result 3-2. In 2003, strongly desired by Roberto Mancini (who had become coach and with whom he had played in Rome), he returned to Lazio, with whom, however, this time, he remained for only a few months.
the coach
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From that moment on he always returned to Italy only as an opponent: as Porto coach he faced Juve, Roma, Lazio, Inter and even Milan. He was very close to Napoli in 2021, but in the end the negotiation fell through. Before becoming a coach, he actually had a very brief experience as sporting director of Paok, he understood that he missed the pitch and studied to be a coach: in Portugal he first saved Olhanense, which he then also led to eighth place (best result since 1964). Then Academica, Braga, Vitoria Guimaraes, Nantes and Porto. His teams are always very solid, they keep the lines tight, they give a lot of importance to the defensive phase. Furthermore, he gives a lot of importance to the feelings of the fans. The match of life for him are the ones that the public cares about most. The 5-0 defeat against Benfica in March is only the latest demonstration. After seven seasons he decided to leave his favorite team to try a new adventure. He now hopes to return to stay. And help Milan restart.
