The captain from the Spring Kevin Zeroli spoke to the microphones of Milan TV of his Rossoneri experience so far. These are Zeroli’s words:
On what Milan is for him: “If I have to use just one word I would say family: it is a society that raised me, made me become a man. I think family is the best word to describe this company.”
On his arrival at Milan: “I spent a few months in an oratory team with my brother and a scout from Milan called him for a trial. My brother was a shy boy, the coach asked me to play with him and we did some dribbling together, at that point the coach suggested I do a tryout and shortly after they took me on.”
What period do you remember most happily?: “Definitely Andrea Biffi and Marino Magrin, they were wonderful years in which I had a lot of fun. I was little but I had fun. My look? When I was little, especially abroad, they compared me to Gullit. He was a great player, maybe I could get to his level.”
On his idols: “When I was little I really liked Iniesta, because my father used to show me his videos. I liked her very much in everything. Now I am inspired by Bellingham, she has many characteristics that belong to me, then there is still a lot of difference and to reach her levels I have to grow a lot”.
On his first team debut: “When Pioli called me, my legs shook and I had a bit of anxiety, then I loosened up and let myself go. Making my debut at San Siro in front of our fans was certainly wonderful. I distinctly remember the coach’s words when he called me.”
On how he felt when he entered the pitch: “Once I entered I couldn’t hear or understand anything anymore, I felt like I was inside a bubble, I couldn’t even hear the choirs”.
On his first team teammates: “Florenzi makes fun of me a bit but gives me a lot of advice, Mike also helps me a lot”.
On the best memory in the Youth League: “Semi-final with Porto, when I recovered the ball and then Simmelhack scored, I almost wanted to cry. Still the fifth penalty? By now it had almost become a habit, it was wonderful to score the winning goal on two occasions. I’ve always tried to free my head from emotions and pressure to beat calmly and just try to score.”
On the Youth League final: “Losing a final is certainly never nice, but I think the most important thing is to play it and have no regrets. My teammates and I gave everything, we have no regrets.”
On Abbot: “It changed my mentality, it made me grow in attacking the goal and in the importance of scoring goals. These are fundamental things that I previously gave less importance to, I preferred to make an extra play. He helped me become a leader and a player who wants to be decisive for the team. The most important? Yes, it helped me a lot in becoming a man.”
About family: “I think the most important value they gave me is humility.”
On what he wants to say to the kids who see him as a role model: “I believe it is important to chase your dream, improve yourself every day, stay humble and never feel like you have arrived.”
