Romagna blood. But also a heart that for the most part has remained and remains yellow-blue in color. Nicola Campedelli, almost one hundred and fifty matches in Modena, many with the captain’s armband, today is the spring coach of Cesena, with whom he triumphed in Primavera 2, precisely in the year in which the canaries did the same in the immediate category inferior.
Well, Campedelli, first of all congratulations…
“Thank you, it was a great satisfaction, next year in Primavera 1 we will challenge all the big teams.”
What do these many yellow-blue competitions mean to you? “A lot. In my seven years in Modena I almost always played. Maybe a little less the first year with De Biasi, but it was my first season in Serie A. And then in my role I had the competition of a great player and great man like Paolino Ponzo”.
You remained in the history of Modena as the most expensive purchase of all time, when they took you from Salernitana…
“I can’t deny that it makes me a little proud. But the figures were generally the same then, and then I was at the best of my career. And in any case when Modena sold me to Cesena I wasn’t paid little, let’s say that a good part of that they recovered the amount…”.
Between the championship and the cup, 14 goals in the canary…
“I also scored against Cesena… A brace against Braglia, and a goal against Manuzzi in that 2-4 draw in 2006. The Bianconeri were the team of my heart and with which I had grown up, but I wore the Modena shirt and before that was the goal that I remember? The one against Lazio in Malesani’s year, I still have the photo hanging in the living room, my first goal in Serie A, a great emotion. It would have been incredible too Treviso in 2004, then Reginaldo ruined everything, which would have earned him the playoffs and even Serie A, given that between failures, penalties and withdrawals, all the teams that reached the second phase were eventually promoted.”
The coach who left the biggest mark on you in Modena?
“Definitely Stefano Pioli. Incredible technical and human qualities, I personally defended him at times when he was challenged. He then demonstrated his value over the years, coaching in Serie A and winning a championship with Milan. Exceptional person” .
Today you coach Bisoli in Modena, you know him well…
“I didn’t have him directly as a coach, I was in the squad at Cesena but I already had a foot injury. He had an extraordinary career in Cesena, three promotions are no mean feat. Then he makes the people love him. What effect will seeing him have on the people of Cesena? on the Modena bench? I don’t know, they will see him as an opponent but with respect. I’m pleased that a beautiful and prestigious match like this will be played again in Serie B, in front of two of the best audiences I know.”
How do you judge the Bisoli-Catellani pairing?
“If they chose Bisoli it is because in the matches in which he was on the bench the management had the opportunity to get to know him and appreciate his idea of football. And the same goes for Catellani, he has already been working for Modena for a year and evidently they saw in him the qualities necessary to promote him to sporting director. In my opinion, with an expert coach like Bisoli at his side, the pair could really work better.”
