Alessio Tacchinardi on Zizou
The Italian midfielder spent 13 years with Juventus, winning one Champions League final in 1996 but losing three more
“ZIDANE WAS VERY SHY, BUT AFTER ONE SESSION WE REALISED HE PLAYED THE GAME DIFFERENTLY”
You recently took over as coach of Crema in Serie D. Is your former Juventus captain Antonio Conte an inspiration, given all the success he has enjoyed in management?
He is one of my most influential role models – his fitness sessions are so knackering, but his teams are always flying. I would like to have been coached by him. Conte has made history everywhere, even in the Premier League, and I follow him with great interest.
You won the Champions League with Juve in 1996 – what did coach Marcello Lippi tell you before the game?
There wasn’t much to say the week before the game. Lippi was mainly focused on calming the players down. The adrenaline levels were high, because everyone was excited and really looking forward to playing that game. He was more like a fireman who needed to extinguish the fire. The days leading up to the final were endless. I was only 20 at the time, so winning the Champions League final was an incredible achievement. We beat Ajax on penalties after a 1-1 draw. Once we’d celebrated on the pitch in Rome, we flew back to Turin to party more! Gianluca Vialli left Juventus to join Chelsea after that Champions League triumph. Did you see that coming?
We were surprised. We knew he’d reached the peak of his career with that Champions League title, but we didn’t imagine he would then join Chelsea. He was such a big loss for us because he was our captain, my captain. His charisma and his strength were amazing. I had a lot of captains during my career, but no one had the same personality as him.
Vialli was replaced as star man by Zinedine Zidane. What’s the first thing you remember about him in the dressing room?
Zizou was so shy, almost scared by a dressing room full of tremendous footballers. But after his first training session, we all realised that he could play the game differently from everyone else. It seemed like he was playing a different sport from the rest of us.
Previously, you had been team-mates with Roberto Baggio for a season. What was he like to play alongside?
He is an exceptional person, a very respectful and intelligent guy, but unfortunately Roberto struggled with some knee injuries during my first season at Juventus and he couldn’t train regularly. He left for Milan in the summer of 1995, just a year after I arrived from Atalanta. I wish I could have seen more of him – when Baggio was fit, he was such a delight to watch. And what about playing with Edgar Davids? Was he a ‘Pitbull’ off the pitch’ too?
He is one of a kind, not a Pitbull. Edgar is an honest guy who likes honest people. If you’re not like that, it’s unlikely that you’ll get on with him. He is a direct guy who doesn’t like fakers. When Zidane left Juve to join Real Madrid in 2001, the club signed the likes of Pavel Nedved, Lilian Thuram and Gianluigi Buffon. How did you help them settle in at Juve? Pavel was the one who struggled the most, but Gigi and Lilian had no big issues. Nedved couldn’t settle down for about four months – he couldn’t find his role on the pitch. It was hard at the beginning, but when Lippi started using him as an attacking midfielder, no one could stop him.
Juventus lost Champions League finals in 1997 (to Dortmund), 1998 (to Real Madrid) and 2003 (to Milan). Which hurt the most? The one in Manchester, to our rivals Milan, but it’s painful to remember each of them. It’s still an open wound today. I suffer every time the Champions League begins, and I hope Juve will soon lift the trophy again, even if no one will give me those three finals back.
Juve lost on penalties to Milan in 2003 – do you wish you’d stepped up in the shootout? Yeah, in hindsight. But the penalty takers had been decided already. By the way, I believe in destiny. Nedved was suspended for the final after picking up a late yellow card in the semi against Real Madrid. As soon as he got booked,
I immediately thought we wouldn’t win the final in Manchester. I’m not saying it’s a curse, but there are some situations that us players can immediately sense.
Going back the 1997 final loss to Dortmund, were Juve too self-confident about winning that game in Munich?
Finals are delicate occasions – they’re usually won by the fitter team. We played that final after a tough year. We’d fought until the very end of the season to win the league ahead of Parma, while Dortmund ended their title race in March. They were focused on that match. Alessandro Del Piero is one of the players you shared all these moments with – how was your relationship?
We shared joy and sorrow – we get along on and off the pitch. We used to go out together all the time, and even if Vialli was my captain with a charisma that was off the charts, Alex was also an outstanding captain and leader. He had more and more responsibility as the seasons went by. His mental strength and his personality improved every year.
Thierry Henry had a spell with Juventus, too, but he wasn’t the same player he became at Arsenal and Barcelona. Why?
He was just too young, and also playing out of position. He had to play as a defensive winger because we already had a lot of strikers and it was necessary to play him in that role. But we all knew that he was an incredible player with enormous potential. Thierry is a true friend of mine. We don’t have many chances to meet each other now, but every time I see him it’s always a pleasure. Carlo Ancelotti played him wide – he wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t enough, and he joined Arsenal after only six months. Did you ever have a chance to play in the Premier League yourself?
Yes, twice – when I was at Juventus and later at Villarreal. Not joining the Premier League is another regret I have. I could have signed for Middlesbrough with Fabrizio Ravanelli in 1996, but I said no and that was a mistake. I should have moved to England to learn about a new culture and style of football, and also to learn English. I’m fascinated by the Premier League. Who knows, maybe I’ll end up in England as a manager one day?
Which of your former team-mates gave you the sense that he’d never lose the ball? And who was impossible to dribble past?
There are so many – it’s tough to choose one. In midfield, I’d pick Zinedine Zidane and Juan Roman Riquelme, who I played alongside at Villarreal. At the back, I would say Thuram, Ciro Ferrara, Paolo Montero and Jurgen Kohler – big strong players in every aspect of the game. Your old team-mate Buffon has returned to Juventus. What did you think about that? It’s the right choice. He came back home and he’s going to help everyone at the club. You can’t put Gigi under discussion, as a man or as a footballer. He went to Serie B with Juve, even if he was the best goalkeeper in the world at that time. He could have joined any big team in Europe, but he gave his word to Juve and he played in Serie B. I’m lucky to call him a friend.