Pisacane: “Performance and notable result”

This is what Fabio Pisacane, coach of Cagliari’s Primavera team, said after the 2-0 victory over Torino in the Coppa Italia quarterfinals. The match was decided by a brace from Ivan Sulev in the second half, at the 54th and 60th minutes.

IMPORTANT STEP
“We’re happy to have progressed to the next round because that was the goal we set for ourselves. It’s a result that rewards us because we now have three more games to chase the dream of reaching the final, and it’s motivating to test ourselves by playing every three days with performances like today’s. Playing against Torino always requires a double spirit of sacrifice, especially since two teams with such rich histories were facing off—teams with deep values and a strong sense of belonging on both sides. I can’t recall any matches against Torino where there wasn’t this kind of intensity. I also want to congratulate the players who were here last year, because if we’ve reached the quarterfinals so quickly, it’s thanks to the great work done last season that allowed us to be among the top seven seeds. We’re all happy and we need to keep going like this.”

TWO DECISIVE LONG-RANGE SHOTS
“Long-range shots are fading because football is heading towards a direction of ‘space occupation, creating connections, and relationships,’ to use the more technical terminology. However, football must not lose its essence; the long-range shot is a solution that players with ballistic qualities like Sulev’s should try. As coaches, we must be the first to promote this with targeted training. Specifically, Ivan is a player who, even after today’s performance, always leaves me a little disappointed—but only because I know his potential and what he’s capable of. I hope that for him, this is the start of a new journey, one that will culminate in 2025.”

THE PERFORMANCE
“Today, I liked the mentality, the total sacrifice from everyone, and the Cagliari spirit. I also liked seeing how every contested ball seemed to explode. The team, regardless of the aesthetic beauty that can sometimes be there and sometimes not, of the compliments they might receive, needs to have in its DNA what the Club’s history and the Society require, but above all, what I demand. Personally, I’ve always been distinguished by a fighting spirit; I cannot accept first halves like the one in Lecce, and this is something we need to work on to grow.”

THE COPPA ITALIA
“The Coppa Italia is a goal for us. We approach every match as if it were a final, and the Coppa Italia gives us two more opportunities to potentially reach the final. So, we will work to get the best out of both competitions, and then we’ll see where we end up. The defeat in Lecce? After the win in Bologna, we had the chance to find continuity, but instead, we stumbled with the 1-1 draw against Sampdoria, and this time, it happened in Lecce after the victory over Fiorentina. We must never lack in the mental aspect, allowing ourselves to only play with finesse. We are aware that working with young players is a challenging task that requires time, passion, but above all, great teaching for the boys, who are often subjected to excessive criticism. The primary goal is to develop players for the first team, as much as possible, and this is something we must work on collectively, as a group and as a staff. As for Langella’s condition? I don’t like to talk about luck or misfortune, but he’s had some setbacks and hasn’t been able to return yet. He scored one goal in two matches, but now he’s out, and we don’t know for sure the recovery timeline, so we will wait and hope for a bit of good luck to have him back soon and at his best.”