Interview with Parma coach Fabio Pecchia. The team recently returned to Serie A, after three years in Serie B. Big celebration in the Emilian city
It was a season full of emotions that was experienced by Parma returned to Serie A for that special alchemy created between the club, the team and the yellow and blue fans! It is indisputable, however, that the coach Fabio Pecchia it was the top players of this championship: his collectivism was his additional weapon. He gave a gaming identity fantastic by involving the entire group and transmitting the winning mentality.
Between one award ceremony and another, I managed to contact him, I have been a lifelong fan. It seemed impossible to get an interview with the coach and instead we found ourselves discussing, retracing, through a long series of memories, emotions, experiences still fresh and some highlights of his private and public life.
When did your passion for football begin?
From an early age, to the point that from Latin at just 12 years old, despite suffering from the distance from my family, I moved to train in football Avellino, where I attended middle school and then accounting. I stayed in the Avellino club for 8 years, I was determined in this choice even though I was aware of the sacrifices to be made. I was together with 30 other guys, like me from various cities, with whom I shared everything and formed bonds friendship.
So I suffered when none of them achieved my results: they had worked, dreamed, fought as much as me, but they didn’t make it. After that I moved to Naples for 4 years, becoming the coach of the team and we went to Serie A there! So I’m from Lazio, but from Campania by adoption and now from Emilia because I moved to Bologna with my family 5 years ago. Emilia Romagna is a land that I like, I am attracted by the way of life of its friendly, open and generous people towards everyone. And so I brought my family with me. Work and family go together, family is the basis, the support. I consider myself very lucky: I have a wife and three daughters so I’m a minority at home, but I know how to defend myself!
What impact did your past as a midfielder and coach in various teams have?
It’s clear that I carry the experiences I have with me, but they are two different careers: my experience as a footballer was very useful to me, I experienced a lot with my playing companions; However, it is a small part of my life. Instead, as a coach it was more challenging but also more exciting. Before a match I look at the faces that make up the team and a lot happens in that moment. I try to make what I can available, to give advice specific to my role, to convey some useful ideas and concepts.
I ask him if I can remember some famous ones. He smiles as I list them: “Let’s play lightly, let ourselves be carried away by enthusiasm. After all, it’s just a football match.”
Have you experienced difficult moments?
I keep thinking about the mistakes I made last year, but I never lost faith in the team. I believed in everyone and in the possible run-up to make the leap, but losing to Cagliari was terrible. I always watch my games again, but I just couldn’t watch that one again. This year the initial part of the championship was simpler, but when we were close to the goal, the home defeat against Catanzaro forced us to stop and look each other in the eye. But this step too was addressed with particular attention, focusing on the technical and psychological management of the group, without ever doubting the steps taken.
What is the importance of football from a social point of view and how can young people live the values conveyed by this world?
From an early age, children are attracted by football and enjoy playing football with their friends. Many then join amateur teams, which become the starting point for some towards a career as a footballer. Ours is a beautiful profession, which fascinates children and adolescents: they observe us. We, on the other hand, have obligations to respect towards them, who follow us and take us as models. Our world can have a devastating or very positive aspect: it all depends on the messages we convey. Those who work within football must have a great sense of responsibility to send positive results.
In my team this year I aimed to enhance young players like Bonny, Bernabè and Del Prato. Working with such a young team was challenging, but fascinating. It is not easy to create a sense of belonging in many young people from various countries and different cultures, amalgamating them without anyone losing their uniqueness.
I saw them grow before my eyes! Seeing them on the pitch in September and then seeing them again in March and April gave me a sense of evolution, you can see a growth of the individual and the group, physically, technically and tactically. A mature, compact team emerged. This is a great satisfaction for me, for them and for the fans. It was certainly a positive example for the very young and young fans.
What was your greatest emotion and what are Fabio Pecchia’s plans for the future?
I still have in my eyes the emotion of entering and seeing the stadium full, then that gigantic A in the north curve still excites me now, that very long procession from the stadium to the square, with Parma residents and foreigners mixed together to celebrate, all together. The plans are to compete at higher levels, the path that awaits us is varied: we always need to raise the bar. I imagine the debut in Serie A with Inter!
I thank the Mister, wishing him much success and making his most beautiful dreams come true.
