“Very good, great debut”. Luciano Spalletti’s endorsement after the Belgium-Italy match perfectly sums up what it is Nicolò Rovella. Simple, essential, incisive and free of unnecessary doodles. Finding yourself catapulted into making your debut for the national team in Belgium, in Brussels moreover from the first minute could make anyone’s legs tremble. Not to Rovella, to whom Spalletti handed over the conductor’s baton to give life to Rovellismo. From Lazio to the national team, for the former Juventus and Monza just a couple of inaccuracies at the start of the match and then the usual performance all recoveries and playmaking. Yet another perfect symphony of a midfielder who took the big stage in Monza, was then refined by Sarri and finally thanks to Baroni he became a director of international level. In Formello there were few doubts about Rovella’s potential, but the difference was made by the trust he felt from Baroni and all his staff from his first day in class in 2001. Already in retreat in Auronzo di Cadore, the Tuscan coach always wanted to pass the game through Rovella. “He is a player at the center of the project” said Baroni at the end of the training camp, now Rovella is the center of Baroni’s technical and tactical project.
Lazio, the (semi)perfection of Rovella
The extraordinary confidence of the Biancoceleste midfielder is demonstrated by the numbers that Rovella has been maintaining in recent weeks. Against Belgium he only missed three passes, finishing the match with an extraordinary 96% of passes completed. If we also consider the last three games played with the Lazio against Cagliari, Porto and Monza, Rovella attempted 232 passes, missing only eight. A percentage of completed passes that is close to 97%, numbers of a cyborg rather than a midfielder. Baroni enjoys it and Lazio enjoys it, who are now waiting for a Rovella refreshed by his national team debut for what will be a very hot period of the season between Serie A, Europa League and the debut in the Italian Cup against Napoli. First, however, there is the match against France at San Siro, that stadium five minutes from home where he went to the Curva Nord to support Inter, only to then suffer the undeniable charm of the Biancoceleste world. “I wasn’t born in Lazio, but I became one because it is an extraordinary environment. The world of Lazio fascinated me so much, when you experience it from the inside it’s incredible. Lazio is experienced as a feeling, I will remain a Lazio player for life”