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Corini: "When I asked Maradona for his shirt, Baggio's jokes, the row with Mancini"

Eugenio Corini, a former midfielder and now a manager (currently at Union Brescia), opens up in an interview with *La Gazzetta dello Sport*, from which we have selected the most significant excerpts.


At the start of his career, after Brescia came Juve.

“It was the summer of Italia ’90. I joined Juve with Baggio. Robi was a rock star, I was a nobody. And Trapattoni often put us in the same room: a unique character, he used to play loads of pranks on me. In the evenings we spent all our time playing Pinnacola. So many matches between me, Baggio and Carrera. Nobody wanted to lose.”


And when Robi wasn’t there, you were the number ten…

"Yes, but only because the numbers were assigned from one to eleven. Joking aside, it was an honour to wear the number ten at both Juventus and Napoli. I have just one regret: the only time I faced Maradona, I asked him for his shirt, but he’d promised it to Casiraghi. And just think how strange life is: three years later, I was the one wearing that number ten."



  • Sampdoria were caught in the middle. Did he leave because of Mancini?

    “No, it was my fault. As a young lad, I was a bit of a hothead. Roberto was important at Sampdoria; you had to show him respect. We had an argument and I replied rudely; above all, I was wrong in the way I behaved. I enjoyed my time in Genoa; Sacchi called me up for the national team three times. But I was stupid; I made a rash decision.”


    Close to Inter

    “At Sampdoria, I was blocked by Jugovic and I wanted to play at all costs. So my agent spoke to Inter to get me to Milan. But Mantovani put a stop to it. He took me aside and said: ‘I’ve only just signed you, I’m not selling you. Work hard and you’ll get your chance.’ And that’s exactly what happened.”




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