You say Napoli-Como and you immediately think of the match in May 1981, when a goal by Francesco Palo it allowed the Neapolitans to move to -2 behind Juventus and keep their championship hopes alive. “It was the day of the disallowed goal in Turone, but I found myself on the cover of Guerin Sportivo: the hero of the championship”, says the former Italian striker in an interview given to The Morning.
A sensational but short joy, followed by a serious injury: “Castellini’s words in the locker room: “you’ll see that now comes the difficult part, because now you won’t be able to surprise anyone anymore”. And he was right. The following Sunday, against Juventus, the Bianconeri were waiting for me: first Prandelli and then Verza hit me very hard. For a lifetime, I had convinced myself that it was the former coach’s intervention that broke my cruciates, but only now that, 40 years later, I wanted to see that again. Napoli-Juve, I realized that perhaps it was Verza’s blow.”
From memories to current events, talking about tomorrow’s match between Conte’s Azzurri and Fabregas’ Larians: “If Lukaku recovers, I’m convinced that this team is even stronger than Spalletti’s. And then also the reserves, people like me , it seems to me that they are very strong: Raspadori, Simeone and Neres can have a key role, the fleeting moment that I had.”