“We had a great match: congratulations to the players but the biggest ones go to the coach: he gave confidence, tranquility and conveyed awareness and great courage. He deserves great credit.” President Carmelo Salerno is visibly moved after the match, and has sweet words for Nesta. “In the first 45 minutes we didn’t deserve to be behind, we had two sensational chances. We played a great match. Reggio hasn’t seen two championships in a row in Serie B for 25 years…”. Salerno stops. “Excuse me…”. Voice broken by strong emotion. Lucciconi. Then he resumes. “We’ve had an amazing run so far. Of course, not at home, but we’ve made up for it away from home. We should all be proud, but we’re still missing some points for certain salvation.” Salerno explains the reason for so much emotion. “We suffered: many injuries, then the last three defeats, one worse than the other. We couldn’t ruin these five years for three wrong matches. We deserve to save ourselves for what we showed.” Finally, a comment on derbies. It’s Alessandro Nesta’s turn. “Those outside our group have had confirmation of the boys’ cohesion. They are great, and they make me the happiest coach in the world. We came here after the protests, it took courage to play like this in Palermo.” To those who point out that the playoffs are closer than the playouts. “No, no, no. For goodness sake… the last time I heard that word then we lost them all. Let’s think about saving ourselves, even in the last round, in every way”. For him a special hug at the final whistle. “With Malpeli, the team manager. A very important figure.” Also two comments on the singles, Libutti and Portanova. “You know Libu, a golden boy who has a unique coldness. He is reliable because what you ask of him you know he will give it to you. Manolo? He was very tired and I took him off as a precaution but he has nothing”. He created a long-distance relationship with Elvis Kabashi. The midfielder dedicated the victory to the coach. “He went through some complex days, after Cosenza he put his face to it.” Nesta will say. “Oh, I’m not dead, they make dedications to those who are no longer here. I cringe and thank ‘Kaba’ (laughs, ed.)”. He also spoke to Captain Paolo Rozzio. “Three points of considerable importance, but we are not safe mathematically. I don’t forget last Friday: we had the fans protesting outside the stadium, now we have to maintain balance to bring home the goal.”
Giuseppe Marotta
