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Full Episode - The Interview: Marco Negri (Ep. 76)
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Transcript
Introduction
00:00:01
Speaker
Welcome to the Italian football podcast with John Solano, Carlo Garganese and Nima Tuvali.
00:00:24
Speaker
Hello everybody and welcome to another interview episode of the Italian Football Podcast. I'm Carlo Garganese. I hope you're all doing well and enjoying the football this week.
Interview with Marco Negri
00:00:34
Speaker
On today's show we have a Glasgow Rangers legend who had perhaps the greatest first half to a season in maybe in British football history.
00:00:43
Speaker
He also starred in Serie A for the likes of Perugia and Udinese, and he was a prolific goalscorer, scoring almost 150 career goals. More recently, he's become something of an Instagram star with some of his really, really funny lockdown videos. So we are delighted to invite onto the show, Marco Negri. Marco, thank you so much for joining us. How are you doing? My pleasure, really. A big shout to everyone.
00:01:09
Speaker
And I'm fine, you know, I'm living this kind of time with the virus, COVID and everything, but trying to be positive, trying to be close to my family and trying to, you know, live the life with positive things.
00:01:30
Speaker
That's a good thing. Hi, Marco. Thanks again for coming on to the show. So let's start at the beginning of your career.
Early Career Reflections
00:01:36
Speaker
You came up through the youth ranks at Udinese before you made your debut for them. But you were there when a great legend like Zico was there. I want to ask you a little bit how that was. I was magnificent, you know, because I was a kid, you know, just trying
00:01:56
Speaker
to work on my development, but sometimes I was watching the first team training, you know, online. This kind of player, Zico or Redinho, the other Brazilian, was something like an inspiration to me. Zico played the pro-rudinese, that at the time was not a big, big team in Serie A.
00:02:24
Speaker
if you compare to Juventus in Milan but was probably one of the best five players in the world and was an inspiration you know because you could see him playing with the ball on his feet but also looking also around
00:02:46
Speaker
to see the player open. So it was a forward to everyone with the mind, you know, because you are not fast. If you can run faster, but you are fast player, you can think of football faster. And it was that kind of player that was fast, very fast on the mind and also faster with the feet and the run.
00:03:14
Speaker
What's your fondest or most favorite memory of playing with Zico during those years at Ulinese? Well, I was not playing with him, you know, because, you know, it was a lot of years of difference, but, you know, it was just an inspiration because you could see one of the... because we were playing for the youth team.
00:03:38
Speaker
But every Sunday we were at the stadium to look at the first team playing Serie A. And, you know, to have the chance to look at one of the first three players in the world playing just on the pitch was something really, really inspiring me and trying to put on my football some of his secrets.
00:04:06
Speaker
You made your real breakthrough at Cosenza and Bologna between 93 and 95, scoring 30 league goals and earning a move to Perugia, where you had two fantastic seasons. Your goals actually got Perugia promoted to the Serie A in your first season. And then in your second season, you scored 15 Serie A goals. What are your best memories from the time at Perugia?
00:04:28
Speaker
A big, big step for my career, you know, because Serie A at the time was the best league in the world. You know, so many legends playing over there, Golden Boot, Ballon d'Or playing in Serie A. So it was a big, big challenge.
Challenges in Serie A
00:04:49
Speaker
And also it was very, very important to earn the chance to play in Serie A on the pitch because I won the Serie B
00:04:58
Speaker
league with Perugia, so I could feel to be proud, you know, to have known the picture, the way to play Serie A. Then Serie A was the dream when I was
00:05:16
Speaker
You know, playing the garden or breaking the window from my mama's house, you know? And it was a dream. It was a dream. And at the time, playing Serie A, playing every Sunday against the best defender in the world, like Nesta, Maldini, Barrezi, Cotto, Monteiro, it was such a challenge for me.
00:05:45
Speaker
At the end of that season, scoring 15 goals, like you said, without taking any penalty was the proof that I could play in Serie A. And that was a big, big challenge and made me pride also in this day, you know, thinking about to be in the same score list with Battistuta, with Bajo, with Ronaldo, with Loya. So, such a big, big name.
00:06:15
Speaker
One of your teammates was Max Alegri at Perugia. What can you tell us about him as a player? And could you see that he would become a great coach one day? Well, of course, he was playing on midfield and he had the rhythm. You could understand it was the attacking time when you had just to control the ball and keep the ball safe.
00:06:43
Speaker
in our feet. So he was already given the rhythm of the game. He was a talented player. He didn't play for big big names, big big clubs in Italy. But you could see that he was already, already, you know,
00:07:06
Speaker
It was like a maestro for the orchestra, you know, just giving everybody the ball at the right time. So I could see him like a manager, but to be fair, not so successful manager, you know, because he won a lot of Serie A titles and two finals in Champions League. So he made a big, big
00:07:34
Speaker
Big, big step, like a manager. And I hope, because now he's with no bench at the time, but I hope to see very, very soon, you know, in some Serie A bench or some big club bench.
00:07:51
Speaker
I hope as well. I hope he comes to Inter. I really rate Max Alegre as a coach. I really hope he takes over from Conte. Believe me, I think that Inter as well is the right thing for him because he's not a manager that has got a straight way to play football, but he just wanted the 100% of the players.
00:08:21
Speaker
And you have the 100% from every player, when the players trust you and when you are loyal to your teammates, he's this kind of manager. He's not so practical or strategical like the other one, like, I don't know, Pep Guardiola, but he's more
00:08:45
Speaker
focus on the three points of the winning mood. You understand the like... Pragmatic. It's pragmatic. Pragmatic, exactly. That's the right word. Like Capello, for example, or like Mourinho in this day.
Football Friendships and Personalities
00:09:03
Speaker
You also were teammates with Gattuso and Materazzi when they were very young. How were they when they were young?
00:09:09
Speaker
Technically, they were very, very poor. That's a joke about because they were very, very young, but with
00:09:26
Speaker
a boost of winning, willing of winning every ball, every small match during the training. And the most important thing, because we were training for one hour every day, at the end was the match, the small match.
00:09:44
Speaker
The first thing I was thinking was to go on the team of Gattus and Materazzi. So I had my legs saved. But I'm very close to both of them still. And I'm very happy because they want everything, really, really, everything on the pitch. But they are still the same older guys, you know, you can joke with them.
00:10:11
Speaker
You can speak of everything. If you are asking to them for everything, they are ready to answer to me. So they are still my teammates, you know. Teammates are forever.
00:10:27
Speaker
Yeah, I've I've interviewed Materazzi and yeah, he was he was good fun. Just I've just got a very quick question. I don't know if you remember, but I think I watched you play when you were at Perugia. I'm not sure if you were playing, but it was Perugia were playing against Luton Town in the Anglo Italian Cup. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Were you I don't know if you were you play because I was I used to play for Luton Town. I was a youth team player when I was young, when I was a teenager. And at the time I was
00:10:55
Speaker
I was at loot in town and they used to give us free tickets to the anglo-italian cup because nobody nobody ever wanted to go watch the anglo-italian i'm going to watch it was a really really strange couple you know really strange couple no but because it was the first team enough of the championship in england and the first team in serie b
00:11:17
Speaker
But it was something really, really amazing at that time, because you had the chance to go around Europe to play against a great, great team like U-Tone. I remember also playing against West Ham, against Tranmer, against...
00:11:38
Speaker
So it was something strange, you know, for a player that was the cup of the poor. But it was really nice. I remember we played the Yutong because I played the Anglo-Italiano with Cosenza, and then also with Pebuza. I think we won four games.
00:12:00
Speaker
I remember a long-haired player scoring two goals, so maybe that was you. Yeah, yeah, it was me, it was me, it was me. Exactly.
Stories of Perugia's President
00:12:10
Speaker
One of the, your president Perugia was a man named Luciano Gauci, who sadly passed away in February this year. And he's remembered as one of the most sometimes controversial, but very colorful presidents in the city. I mean, he signed Colonel Gaddafi's son. He sacked Ang Yung-wan for scoring a goal against Italy in the World Cup in 2002. He tried to sign Hana Yung Barri, Swedish and Victoria Svensson, both female players to Perugia to play with the males.
00:12:40
Speaker
I mean, what was it like working with him? How was he as a person to work under? Well, we call it me Yurakaina, you know? Luciano in Italian is Luciano Uragano. And Uragano is Yurakaina because you never know what was going to happen. But I remember him because he passed away just a few months ago. And I have to say thanks to him because I had the chance to play in
00:13:10
Speaker
in Serie A with Reuza, but it was a mix because it was a chairman and a chairman that was going to risk to buy some different players and so I had a gamble on some kind of players. But also it was fun, it was a supporter of the team.
00:13:37
Speaker
Like a supporter of the team, you had to think about him after a good win game, but after also a loose game. And it was really, really different. It was opposite character, very generous in a part, but also very, very strange in the other part.
00:14:05
Speaker
I remember once after we lose a game, we were phoning to our family, you know, we are going to be back to Perugia in two or three hours travelling time. But he was on the bus just telling us, we are going straight to the hotel and we stayed there until the next game.
00:14:30
Speaker
So we were for days and days and days just in our path to stay together. And it was for the players that had family and kids was very, very tough. But I remember him.
00:14:48
Speaker
with all the positive things and especially for my debut in Serie A. So I have to thank really Luciano Uragano.
Glasgow Rangers Experience
00:14:58
Speaker
Okay, after your second season at Perugia, you earned a big money move to Rangers, who at the time were probably one of the biggest clubs in Europe. They had a lot of money. They used to spend a lot of money at the time.
00:15:11
Speaker
And the start to your career at Rangers was, I remember it well, was the most incredible start to a season by a player I think I've ever seen in football. You scored 23 goals in your first 10 games and 30 goals by Christmas. That's like Ronaldo and Messi not even scoring those goals. What can you tell us about that starts the season? It was just unbelievable. Well, moving to Rangers being the big, bigger step of my career and
00:15:41
Speaker
You know, I don't consider myself a legend. I played with a lot of legends, with the range of stop. But to be fair, my first five or six months, I played like a legend because I was in a great, great flow.
00:16:02
Speaker
Every game, you know, scoring goals against very tough defenders in Scotland, you know. They are tough. They were tough. Really tough. It was not so easy. But, to be fair, I was also playing alongside such a brilliant player like Garza, like Brian Laudrup, like Albert Shaw.
00:16:29
Speaker
I was a penalty box player. I had just to stay on the box and waiting for some chocolates by Laudo, Pagata, and some teammates. But the most important thing for a striker is the confidence, the self-confidence. And I was scoring in Italy in Serie B, then I was scoring in Serie A,
00:16:57
Speaker
You know, my self-confidence was so, so high at the time and I was sure about my skills. I was sure to compare every ball I had. And everything was also easier because of my teammates and because of, you know, playing a tie-box is something that
00:17:26
Speaker
It's very, very difficult to explain with the world because the hypercut atmosphere playing in front of 50,000 fans is something that is a boost for Africa. It's got five goals in one game, is that right? Yeah, it was my perfect game, you know, because
00:17:52
Speaker
I was angry before the game with a coach assistant that had been not so nice with me the game before. And so, you know, I wanted to show him the Italian player because he wanted that I was
00:18:16
Speaker
a running player, you know, running against the defender, running left or right. And I was not that kind of player, you know. So he was screaming to me, run, fucking Italian, run. And I wanted just to show him that I was a penalty box player. And so, you know, five goals in a game, it's not so easy. If you can take a look in a YouTube
00:18:45
Speaker
in a YouTube video when I scored the third goal, I say, you know, a nice word in Italian, you know, against the coach. I was just telling him, leave me alone, leave me play in my way that I can score goals. So at the end of that game, I think that
00:19:08
Speaker
I cleared a little bit the mind of my assistant coach. Who was the assistant? Archie Knox. Archie Knox, right. You definitely showed him. Yeah.
00:19:30
Speaker
But then after that, I guess we know what happened and you got an injury, a bad injury and sadly after that you didn't really play too much for Rangers over the next months and years. I mean, can you tell us what happened and I guess how tough it was for you? It's a nightmare, you know, because now after so many years I can speak about
00:19:57
Speaker
the most bizarre injury in football, in Scottish football, with a smile on my face. But at the time, it was very tough because, like you said before, 30 goals before Christmas, going to play squash in a day off, because Wednesday was day off. In Italy, it was a day with double session. So I had
00:20:22
Speaker
I needed training, so I was on the gym or just running alone. Then I asked Sergio Porini, my teammates, to play a game of squash because the run on a squash court was like a penalty box. Small runs, reflection and instinct. But unfortunately,
00:20:52
Speaker
Sergio Porini showed to me that he had the hands worse than his feet. So it was very bad, you know, because he just threw the balls at more than 100 miles per hour straight on my height. And I lost the retina. I had a problem with some blood on my ear.
00:21:22
Speaker
Stupid things, you know, but I now I think that in life, something very positive happened to you without a reason. And on the other hand, something negative can happen. But it was the peak of my career. I was in the golden boots first.
00:21:47
Speaker
by miles. There was a rumor of the Italian national collab. We were playing in the, we were at the top of the league with Rangers for the 10 in a row and every Rangers fans knows what means 10 in a row.
00:22:09
Speaker
So everything was going in one direction. I was like in a magic bubble, you know, just everything was perfect for me, for my family. And then, you know, a fucking squash ball turned everything in a nightmare. And from that point, there was a turning point. And from that point, everything was downhill.
00:22:37
Speaker
Yeah, it's very, very sad what happened, but it's good that you've got a positive attitude. No, you know
Regrets and Career Highlights
00:22:43
Speaker
what he said because I was a footballer and I was expecting an injury like a knee, like a shoulder, you know, ankle, arm strength, something like this.
00:22:59
Speaker
But you know, a ball in a straight in a high that in losing the retina and everything noise more than bizarre, you understand what I mean?
00:23:10
Speaker
Yeah, so frustrating. Yeah, exactly. I was going to ask you about the Italy national team because you've answered the question there because, you know, the World Cup, the 1998 World Cup was coming up as well. Do you think maybe you could have gone to the World Cup if it wasn't for that? Well, to be fair, in the striker position, attacking position in Italy was full of legends, you know, Toki, Del Piero, Bajo, Quez, Akabiragi, Del Vecchio, Montela,
00:23:39
Speaker
It's so many great players, but I'm forgetting a lot of names. But to be fair, just wearing once, you know, in a friendly game, I don't know, just once the Italian top is something that makes me sad, you know, it's a big, big regret because I was
00:24:06
Speaker
very, very close to this kind of things and it's missing to me. I played in Central's league, I played in Sevilla, I played in Scotland, I played in all the leagues, also lower leagues, but it's missing the national. And this is
00:24:27
Speaker
My biggest regret, because I was very, very close. You know, 50 goals on Christmas was something very hard to see for the city, for the Italian manager. The Italian football podcast is only made possible thanks to our patrons on Patreon.com slash TIFP. And one of them, Chris, is a Rangers fan and a Rangers season ticket holder. And he sent in these questions for you.
00:24:56
Speaker
Hi Marco, my name's Chris, I'm a season ticker older at Rangers, also a fan of Serie A and the Italian football podcast. A couple of questions for you. What was your favourite goal for us? And if you hadn't had the injury, do you think you'd have stayed longer at the club? Thank you. Well, I pick up two. Sorry, but I have two. One is the first goal against Dandy United when I scored a five. You know, he's a double sombrero.
00:25:24
Speaker
Then the two defenders that are falling on the pitch, then a big lob to the keeper, that was really, really a bell star. Like they say the Glasgow. And the other one is the goals at Celtic Park in the Old Pyramid. Old Pyramid is a massive, massive game.
00:25:47
Speaker
is one of the top three matches in the world with Barcelona Real and the Argentinian Derby. And I'm very, very proud to have the chance to play once, and I had the chance to score a goal. It's a goal that is very important for me, but also very important for the fans. Every time I meet,
00:26:15
Speaker
I had the opportunity to meet some fans. They still remember the cracking goal at Celtic Park.
00:26:24
Speaker
I think I remember that. I remember the picture of Alan Stubbs on the dive in, sliding on the floor with you shooting. I think I've seen the picture, yeah. Exactly. He tried, after the goal, he tried to break me also some legs, I remember. But it was a good game for me. And just very quickly on this, I mean, I think you've answered it already that would you have stayed longer at the club if it wasn't for the injury?
00:26:53
Speaker
Yes, you know, so many regrets also about my Rangers career, you know, and I had this problem with the squash incident. Then I made a lot of mistakes, but we are human and we are going to make it.
00:27:16
Speaker
But, you know, it's a regret because it was the top of my career, was the great chance for me, you know, staying a lot of season over there. But, you know, with a little bit of unlucky and then some bad mistakes of myself made this,
00:27:46
Speaker
this marriage, you know, short term. And just before we finish on Rangers, we have to ask you about Paul Gascoigne, who you mentioned before. What was it like playing and training with Gazza? He's a genius, you know, genius. A special one. He's a player that, you know, I consider myself very, very lucky because
00:28:14
Speaker
You know, you can play with such a big, big genius, maybe once, they play maybe once every 50 years. So, you know, Gaza to me was after young crew, if the Dutch player,
00:28:32
Speaker
the most incredible midfielder in Europe because he was 50-60 degrees, you know, he could attack, defend, score goals, dribbling, passing the ball, score free kicks, like a genius, you know, and then, you know, training with him was nicer because you could see on the pitch something that that guy that could do it, but also some
00:29:01
Speaker
strange things, you know, like, you know, during a stretching time, he was pissing on the legs of a teammate, you know, so you have to take the data in every aspect. But I was lucky because I had a relationship also outside.
00:29:26
Speaker
the pitcher. So I knew very well Gavda on the pitcher but also Paul outside. He was amazing, amazing friend with a big, big heart really. He's got his demons. But I hope that now he can figure out and live a normal life. I remember the first time we went to
00:29:54
Speaker
to a hotel before a game. At 7.30 was the dinner time. And in Italy, we are very polite. You know, you have to pay money if you are late. You have to dress everybody in the same way. And so I was in this big hole.
00:30:16
Speaker
And, you know, God was outside the elevator, just with the underwear and white shirt, no socks, no flip flops, anything. He was just in the hole, just grabbing some biscuits, some fruit, putting in the underwear, just say, hey, we'll see you tomorrow, OK? Bye-bye. So I thought to myself, OK, a little bit different, but it was also different the next day on the beach, you know, because
00:30:46
Speaker
It was that magnificent giving pass to a great pass up front and giving, you know, a great, great emotion to the crowd. So that was everything, genius, genius.
00:31:02
Speaker
brilliant. And you're still close friends with with Paul today, aren't you? I've seen some pictures on your Instagram. And yeah, you know, sometimes sometimes we speak with on Twitter, you know, I remember once I told him maybe three, three years ago, I told him on Twitter, Happy Christmas, God. And
00:31:29
Speaker
He was just giving me back. Happy Christmas, Marco. How are you, you know? Ciao, big battle. Frotto, no? Frotto is not a good way. So then, every fan was asking to God, what is Frotto? Oh, Frotto is Italian word to say at Christmas, you know? So I had 1,000, 1,000, Frotto.
00:32:01
Speaker
That's what God knows. God knows what he means. I know. We both know what it means. What a story. What a story. We're not going to get better than that. After you returned to Italy, you played for a number of clubs, including Livorno, with a teenage Giorgio Chiellini.
Young Talents and Future Prospects
00:32:23
Speaker
I'd love to know what Giorgio was like as a kid. And could you tell them that he would become a world-class player?
00:32:26
Speaker
That's awesome.
00:32:31
Speaker
Well, you could see he was very, very strong, he was very young, he was about 17 or 18 years old. And he was playing on the left at the start, you know, like Maldini, playing up and down the left side.
00:32:50
Speaker
And he was very, very good, very clever guy. And you could understand that he was very, very focused on his football career. And with the talent and the strength, physically he was on another planet. So then in football, you must be also a little bit lucky, you know, because you can
00:33:18
Speaker
be a professional player, but playing for Juventus for more than 10 years is something different. He's been playing at the same level, so he's quite a professional player and he's a great, great guy. I wish him to carry on, to play some other seasons.
00:33:42
Speaker
Let's fast forward to today. Do you still follow Rangers today? And they're having a great season. They might actually end Celtic's quest to the 10th league title in a row. What are your thoughts? Do you think Rangers can do it? Of course. We have not to say it. But yes, I'm quite confident. I'm quite confident because the starter was greater.
00:34:12
Speaker
They are team very solid because they are not conceding so easy goals away, you know, and that's very, very important because then up front they got a lot of solutions. Every player can find the goals up front, so they are very balanced. Then they got a manager that is a winner,
00:34:38
Speaker
And only if you are a winner or if you have been a winner, you can have a winner mentality. And this is very, very important. Stephen Jaravo is in the right place. And I also hope they can have a good, good run in Europa League because it's something spectacular and something special also for the fans.
00:35:05
Speaker
Now everybody knows that with the COVID, you know, it's different from the fans, but, you know, high hope that we can figure out with the virus and the fans can come back to the stadium. And for the UEFA games, the atmosphere, the type of something really, really crazy.
00:35:34
Speaker
I hope they can, of course, they must be focused 100% on the league because stopping the team in a row is so, so important for everybody. But also, you know, I'm confident about a good, good run in Europa League.
00:35:51
Speaker
Another one of our listeners and patrons, Callum, wants to know what your thoughts are on Alfredo Morelos, a very young, talented attacker at Rangers. But he's had so many crazy moments off the pitch and including allegedly crashing into, crashing his car into a teammate's car and refusing to apologize. What's your thoughts on him? Well, two seasons ago, I was coaching in the staff of Udinese and Serie A.
00:36:20
Speaker
And I told to the Udenese board, the Udenese scouts about Morelos, because I think that he's a player that has got a bright future ahead. He's very young, so young players can have very high or very low.
00:36:44
Speaker
He's Colombian, so passionate. He's got his character, but the most important thing is prolific, and he's a great, great attacking player. Now, I'm not anymore in Udina, so I'm happy that he's playing for render.
00:37:12
Speaker
I'm wondering, you know, about Morello. So now, I think, upfront, Gerard has got a lot, a lot of solutions. And Morello is one of these solutions for the game. And the season is very long, with this space upfront from all the strikers.
00:37:35
Speaker
And just on the Serie A this season, it's a different season, but it's a very balanced season. The top six, seven teams seem to be very compressed and the distance between Juventus and the rest seems to have shrunk. What are your thoughts on the Serie A? Who do you think will win the Skoretto?
Current Serie A Season Analysis
00:37:53
Speaker
And do you think that Zlatan Ibrahimovic can actually become Capo Canonere and even lead Milan to a Serie A title?
00:38:04
Speaker
I think that this year the Serie A is more about a top player than a piece. I mean that, you know, Ibrahimovic is carrying on a similar. Ronaldo right now is carrying on Juventus. Lukaku is carrying on Italy, you know.
00:38:31
Speaker
But, I don't know, Latin now is out for three weeks. It is so important for AC Milan, so I want to see if the rest of the team can play at the same level. But the most important thing will be this kind of players. If they can stay at the top, if they can stay healthy,
00:38:58
Speaker
They can carry their team to the top until the end. Juventus are still my favorite. My favorite because, like I said before, if you got the winning mentality, this can make a difference. And Juventus, every season, are playing to win the Scudetto. And they know that can be
00:39:26
Speaker
can be trouble during the season, but at the end, they will be there at
Instagram Creativity During Lockdown
00:39:32
Speaker
the top.
00:39:32
Speaker
I wanted to ask you a little bit about your activities on social media because you're on Instagram during lockdown. Finally, we're getting serious. Exactly. This is a serious part of the interview. But during lockdown, we're going to all share it for our followers on social media. But you've made some really funny videos playing lots of pranks on people on Instagram.
00:39:59
Speaker
Can you tell us a little bit about these funny videos that you've been making and how you came up with some of these ideas? No, but we were on lockdown in Italy, a very strictly lockdown, and saw plenty of time in my house.
00:40:17
Speaker
No, but I just started with some video just to be a little bit crazy. And then everybody was asking me for some more. Come on, Marco. It's a tough time, but you are putting a smile on our face just for a few minutes. So I said, OK, we can carry on. And just I was taking all the
00:40:47
Speaker
All the stuff on the, you know, in the garage or in everything, and just trying to do something, you know, to put a smile, to put some positive things in a very, very hard time. Because in Italy for one month and a half has been very, very tough. But I think also in the rest of the world,
00:41:17
Speaker
So I started in this way, they were also betting, you know, in the next sport. I had friends just putting, we bet, you know, you are going to do basketball, you are going to do this one. But I tried, you know, to just to put some stranger sport and, you know, some of this video are now in some promotion of some chocolate.
00:41:44
Speaker
the famous chocolate like it's got and you know so I got a new career
00:41:49
Speaker
I'm not taking care about football anymore. Yeah, for sure. I won't ask.
Quickfire Interview Game
00:41:59
Speaker
And just to quickly finish off the show, we have a very quick game where we ask you a few questions. We give you two answers and you just tell us which one of the two you prefer. And you don't have to give an explanation if you don't want to, but you can if you want to. OK. First one, Diego Maradona or Pele?
00:42:20
Speaker
Diego Maradona because I saw, I watched him on the peak. Pele, I know that is being brilliant, but I just saw some, a few goals of him. So I'm taking just Diego Maradona. Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi?
00:42:44
Speaker
Massive. You said that Luciano Gauci was like a hurricane. So who is more of a hurricane? Luciano Gauci or Paul Gascoigne? Paul Gascoigne, come on. It's like a hurricane against a breeze. Come on. Don't be offended Paul. I could be offended. We all know what he'll call you.
00:43:14
Speaker
So who was better at free kicks? Zico or Paul Gasquin? Zico. Yeah, Zico was the king. Zico, I was there after a training session and he used it to put like, you know, 20, 30 balls just at free kicks. And believe me, with a great keeper on the goals and the wall,
00:43:43
Speaker
was like, you know, 18 to 20 on the goals. It was absolutely maybe the best player taking free kicks in the world.
00:43:56
Speaker
I can believe that I remember he, if I'm not mistaken, I think his first season in Serie A, Zico scored three free kicks in his first three games, I think. I'm pretty sure he did. Yeah, it was like a penalty for him, but I still remember the goalkeepers, the opponent's goalkeepers, you know, just
00:44:20
Speaker
The spring before Africa was magnificent, really, really. If there was a fight between Kehlini, Materazzi, Gattuzo and Lorenzo Amoruzzo, who would win? Oh, that's very tough. Wow, that's very tough. Reno, Reno, Reno, Reno, Reno.
00:44:44
Speaker
This is not this guy. He can use the head barter, you know. I love Gotuzu. I'll never forget when they did that prank show in Italy where they... I don't know, what was it called, Nima? Do you remember with the dog? They put a dog in his car. Yeah, nice. Scared the barter. Yeah, it's so funny. So funny. Unbelievable.
00:45:05
Speaker
Yeah, but they risk it. They were right to say, Ereno, it's a joke, it's a joke, it's a joke because he was ready to kiss someone. Believe me, he was ready. It's not the right guy to make a joke. I don't think so. Okay, the final one. Which food is nicer, haggis or osobuco? Oh, osobuco.
00:45:38
Speaker
Thank you. Well, thank you, Marco. Thank you so very much for coming on the show and being so generous with your time and telling us so many great stories from your career. No problem. It's been my pleasure. You know, speaking about football and the Rangers and God is always always a pleasure. Thanks.
00:45:59
Speaker
Thanks a lot for hosting me and keep in touch. We will. And we wish you and your family all the best. And we look forward to seeing more of your Instagram videos. OK, OK. No more lockdown, please. No, come on. Thank you, everyone, for listening. We will catch you once again on Monday for the review episode. Until then, ciao ciao.