Luciano Chiarugi, a former striker for Fiorentina, Milan and Napoli, among others, opened up in an interview with *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, in which he revealed some behind-the-scenes details and recalled some of the far from easy moments he experienced during his sporting career. Here are his comments:
AFPTranslated by
Chiarugi: “I was depressed under Liedholm; Rocco was my saviour. Me, a diver? No, the referees hated me”
FIORENTINA
"My Fiorentina? A fantastic team – we were the 'Ye-Ye' Fiorentina. I think it was because we always had fun. We used to get up to all sorts of mischief. And we had a manager like Pesaola, who knew exactly how to handle us. He used a mix of stick and carrot."
THE NICKNAME ‘MAD HORSE’?
"It was all down to a goal I scored against Zoff, who was Napoli’s goalkeeper at the time. I picked up the ball in midfield and left them all in my wake – a run like a... wild horse. And that’s exactly what a journalist called me. The nickname has stuck ever since."
THE RELATIONSHIP WITH LIEDHOLM
"What relationship? We never had one. He never spoke to me, and when he did, he addressed me formally. I felt trapped by rigid systems and tactical dictates. At the end of the year, we had a heated argument and I decided I would leave."DEPRESSION
"You know, in my day it wasn't common to talk about depression. I was depressed – I'm not ashamed to say it. I'd lost 10 kilos; I wasn't eating. I wasn't playing; I was sad and stressed. Luckily, Nereo Rocco saved me."
MILAN WITH ROCCO
"I still get emotional when I talk about it. I met him in Coverciano (Rocco, ed.), and my voice was shaking. He saw me and said, 'Is that all we’ve bought?' I was very thin. He reassured me and put me in the cooks’ care. Within a few months, I was flying."
TRANSFER MARKET RIVALRY WITH INTER
"It was a proper derby. I’d given my word to Fraizzoli, but then Milan won me over. I wanted to be coached by Rocco. Il Paròn swore to me that I’d find a family at Milan, and I can’t thank him enough."
THE CUP WINNERS' CUP FINAL
"What a match! We were absolutely knackered; it was a real battle. Leeds had Joe Jordan, 'the Shark', up front. I scored from a free-kick. Can you believe that before I took it, I went up to Rivera and asked him to let me have a go? 'I feel up to it,' I told him. And he let me take it. We still talk about it whenever we meet. 'I’d only let you have that one; you were lucky.'
FATAL VERONA
"Would you believe me if I told you that, even after all these years, I still can’t explain it? Every day I find myself wishing I could relive it. We’d won the Coppa Italia and the Cup Winners’ Cup; it would have been our treble. It was all in the bag. The Bentegodi was packed with Milan fans. We’d just come off the back of a gruelling final against Leeds and arrived exhausted. But there’s something supernatural about that match."
THE SIMULATIONS?
"Nonsense... I just think the referees hated me. It was a constant thing. I’d become famous, but I never dived. They gave me a hard time throughout my entire career. And back then, there were proper fights on the pitch – nothing like VAR..."
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