The Torino defender Saul Coco he spoke to the official channels of the Granata club after the first months in Italy, starting with his adjustment: “My adjustment was excellent, I must say that I sincerely hoped so: I am a very ambitious person, I like to aim high and for this reason I intend to have an excellent season. I’m happy that everything came to fruition.”
What was the impact with the fans?
“I also noticed the great passion of the fans, they told me about their warmth and feeling. And right away on social media and in the streets of the city I felt this affection. I think it’s easy to recognize me out there by my haircut, it’s a bit special… To tell the truth, the relationship with the fans is beautiful, they always treat me with a lot of respect. They complimented me, they welcomed me to the city Bull here. The passion of the fans is very important. I believe that in professional football today there is a lot of balance, the mental aspect is the key. When we play here at home, but also away because so many people follow us: it is important create a bond with the fans, they are the ones who can give you that little bit extra to be able to overcome your opponents.”
Twice he risked his life…
“At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020 there were two very important episodes in my life. During the first one, I was traveling with the national team and I contracted malaria. I had to stay in hospital for three weeks stuck in bed and was practically unconscious for two days. It was very hard, but after some time I managed to recover despite having lost a lot of weight. Then on my birthday I had another accident: a game clash, I broke both wrists and took a strong blow to the head. In both cases I was very close to death. They were two very important situations for me, which were very tough at the time, but they made me grow a lot as a person and as a player.”
How do you explain this goal scoring habit?
“I didn’t think I’d score so much straight away. I am a defender who can also help the team in attack, I think I have a good aerial game, I have a good long distance shot. It’s an aspect I’m working hard on to improve: I’ve already scored two goals, it’s a shame that the second didn’t help the team which is the most important thing. I’m happy with how I started, it’s an aspect I can improve on to score even more. I have a good shot from outside and I’m working to be more and more dangerous, but the way I score is the same: with my head or my foot, the important thing is to score goals.”
Is there a passion for fantasy football in the locker room too?
“Absolutely, as a team we created a league: I already played in Spain, even if it’s a little different from here. When my classmates asked me if I wanted to participate, I agreed and noticed that people here are very passionate about this game. I like it a lot, there are many of us on the team together with some of the staff. I couldn’t buy myself even if I wanted to, Pino the physiotherapist managed to get me because he offered too much for me, I couldn’t compete.”
Is football really your passion?
“I like football a lot, so I watch a lot of matches, I have always believed that it was very important to improve. I really like it, understanding which aspects I need to improve on and this helps me keep an open mind. I try to question everything I know to move forward with my growth process.”
How is it going with the coach Vanoli?
“I noticed differences with Spain. Here we are getting used to the new coach with very long training sessions to work on many aspects. In Spain, in my previous team, we had a style of play with a lot of ball possession and all the training sessions were concentrated on this I wait, but here we do a slightly different job, everyone has their own exercises: you always have to adapt to get in shape. I think it depends a lot on the player and the person, not so much on the team you’re in. I had teammates at Las Palmas who they needed three hours to feel fit.”
What is Coco like off the pitch?
“I always like to wake up early to do everything in time. I have, as they say in Spain, “El rhythm Canario”, I am a very calm person who lives without haste. I like to do things calmly and dedicate the right amount of time: I want to wake up, have breakfast calmly and before training if I have to do therapy or extra work I want to have my time. I like to rest in my free time.”
How’s it going with the language?
“We usually speak in Italian, I’m lucky that it’s very similar to Spanish, in fact I can already understand a lot because there is a lot of similarity. I’m working well with Italian lessons to learn and use it as much as possible, then it depends on who I have to talk to: with Sanabria, Maripan and Zapata we speak Spanish, with Pedersen and Adams in English. I try in Italian, but it’s still difficult, but it’s not a problem because we manage to communicate quite well with each other.”
Have you already visited Turin?
“Now that I’m in a new country and a new city I can do some sightseeing and learn about this new culture. Many of my friends have come to Turin and were enchanted by the city and its history: I have not yet been lucky enough to make a complete visit, but it is something I want to do because it is a new place and it is important for my settling in.”
Has the family already come to Italy?
“At first my father and my older sister came, then I have a younger sister who is working and studying so she couldn’t join me. We are already looking for a small space so he can come whenever he wants. I chose to live downtown so I have everything close by. I can walk and do some walking, I have everything at my fingertips and I really like it. Training at Philadelphia is special, it’s one of the things you feel when you arrive here: there is a lot of love for Grande Torino, we also feel this importance for the history of the club so it’s important to train there”
He made a foil…
“I would cut my hair if I scored more than 5 goals: I like to change my style, now I have hair like this but I could very well make it very short, I have no problems! I hope, I hope that’s the case.”
What is the level of African football?
“African football has very high potential, very high level footballers. There is still something to be done in terms of organization and structures, if we worked on these aspects we could improve a lot. We need tools especially for training football to be able to work well and grow. Africa is an incredible talent pool and there is a lot of potential ready to emerge.”