The Venezia midfielder, Alfred Duncanwas interviewed today by Radio TV Serie A and he also spoke about his move from Ghana to Italy, as well as telling curious anecdotes about his life on and off the pitch. These are his statements on the matter: “I call myself Alfredo, because I became an Italian citizen. When I received the notification from the Minister that my request had been accepted, I was with a friend of mine, it appeared on my phone, I was sincerely excited I could have applied even earlier, but before I didn’t understand how important it was to be an Italian citizen. I also did it thinking of my children, to help them, it was a very important thing and makes me understand how important my journey has been. in Italy both on and off the pitch, not everyone has had this opportunity, thank God I have had this luck and after 17 years yes and I am very happy about it.”
What advice would you give to a young person?: “Education comes first of all, it’s something you acquire from home thanks to your parents and once you go out you take it out and people understand where you come from. Education comes first and then there’s school, which is something that helps you settle in wherever you go, is essential. These are the two things that a child and anyone who thinks of doing this job must try to acquire which we always like. If you set a goal as a child it won’t necessarily be what you will achieve, I never thought of moving to Italy. I have always only thought about going to school, doing what I liked to do and then when I didn’t even expect it, I moved to Italy and look where I’ve arrived today. We have to always look forward doing what we like to do, and then if it’s destiny it will be.”
On moving to Italy: “I didn’t know if they would embrace me, treat me differently than I was used to. I was curious about this. Thanks to my family I understood many things, I am very close to them. I have two little brothers who also come to Venice to see me and I have a strong bond with them. When I arrived one was three years old and the other three months old, while now one is nineteen and the other is almost seventeen. This is beautiful too. When I talk about my arrival in Italy I get emotional I remember those years which were not easy. At school I had a classmate, Gianluca, who also helped me a lot at school because I didn’t speak the language and he helped me with his way of doing things.”
On street training in Florence: “In Florence I lived in front of a park, in Piazza d’Azeglio, it was the period just after the Pandemic. I don’t have a garden at home, every now and then I went down to the garage with my son, but then I thought I’d enjoy nature in the park , even though there were a lot of people. I enjoyed training there. There were also kids playing soccer there, I would go for a walk and then go running again. I like Florence a lot, my wife loves it and the kids have fun , I also bought a house there. It’s also convenient because it’s close to Pescia.
On the fight against racism: “I really like the phrase «teach children how to think and not what to think», I was raised like that. Education is the most important thing, what we do at home are the things that our children then learn. I always try to make my children understand how to think, how to deal with certain things, then the choices are up to them, a bit like coaches who give game ideas but then when you are on the pitch you make the choices we can tell children what to choose, they must be educated because education is the primary thing to carry forward. It is the only way to shake up and improve these negative things that we hear and see every day”.