Azzi with “La Nuova Sardegna”
Paulo Azzi spoke to ‘La Nuova Sardegna’ on newsstands today, Monday 18 November. The Italian-Brazilian outfielder ranged between the personal and professional spheres, drawing a line on the red and blue team’s momentum in this first part of the season.
THE AGE OF MATURITY
‘I think I have achieved it, as a footballer and as a man. It’s a good moment for me, I feel good but I know I can still give a lot. What will happen in the future I don’t know, but my desire to train and improve has remained intact. Faith? I am part of a group called Athletes of Christ, we encourage and support each other. We meet, talk to each other and help the younger ones. A key moment in my career was the Covid period: me, my wife and children locked up in the house, a very complicated time; I thought about going back to Brazil and quitting football, starting to do something else. Why didn’t I do that? I live life with a purpose, I believe in God and I can face everything with strength and courage. There was a voice telling me: don’t give up, don’t give up, keep going. I did well to listen to it’.
PASSION FOR FOOTBALL
‘It all started when I was a child, I remember the World Cup in South Korea and Japan in 2002, I was 8 years old and it was a crazy party, there I realised my passion and I asked my father to enrol me in football school. I arrived in Italy in January, in Padua: it was cold, not the best for a Brazilian, I felt the loneliness, but I faced all the challenges with determination and succeeded, bringing my wife here to build a future together. My children, Giulia and Tommaso, are fine here and have their own lives, with them by my side I can face everything’.
THE COMING OF COACH NICOLA
‘Respect is a great value for him, as it was for coach Ranieri that we had in previous years. The habits are the same, we stay together and talk a lot, we know each other, the best way to make a group. A team-mate with whom I’ve bonded in a special way? I get on well with everyone, if I had to point to one I would say Mina, who played in Brazil and with whom I speak Portuguese: he gave us charisma, experience, a positive spirit.
CAGLIARI, GREAT LOVE
‘Right now I am happy to be here: I walk the children to school, I go to the supermarket down the street, people know me, they are friendly. The climate here is ideal. I might even stay in the future, who knows. I feel the trust of the fans in me and in us as a team. They know that commitment is never lacking, they are an incentive to improve. What I can promise is that on the pitch we will always give everything, until the end.
TECHNICAL-TACTICAL ASPECTS
‘I play indifferently on both flanks, low or high, but also as fifth in the defensive line. The important thing is to be physically fit and available. We come from a good draw, playing well against a great team like AC Milan. Football is made of episodes and key moments, last year the draw with Udinese gave us the charge and from that moment on things worked in the right direction, maybe it will be the same this season’.
