The Rome train does not pass every day. And Ivan Juric he rightly decided to seize it, aware of the fact that it is the biggest opportunity of his career, at least so far. After leaving Turin, the Croatian coach is back in the saddle, back in Serie A, and he does so with bigger goals than his last experience. One above all: qualifying for the Champions League, which hasn’t been seen in Trigoria for six years now.
“We have to learn to know each other quickly, on Sunday there is Udinese and we have to bring home the victory. The best response to this moment is to give our all on the pitch”. This is how the coach from Split introduced himself – statements reported in today’s edition of the Sports Courier – to his new team, Roma. A short speech to Pellegrini and his teammates to introduce him and his staff to the group that he will follow until June, trying to chase the first four places in the standings.
The Friedkins’ call – the newspaper continues – was a surprise for him too. After all, until a few hours before, no one had imagined De Rossi’s dismissal, nor that the owners would choose a coach with a curriculum that was not exactly international and whose best placing in Serie A was ninth place with Torino. Pioli was the first name contacted by the management: called the night before, the former Milan player declined because he was leaving for Arabia to sign with Al-Nassr. Then came the idea of Juric, which took off as the hours passed, thanks also to Giuseppe Riso’s constant contacts with the club.