Ferdinando De Giorgi cheers on Antonio Conte and his Napoli team.
Today on CRC, radio partner of SSC Napoli, during the program “A Pranzo con Chiariello” Italvolley coach Ferdinando De Giorgi spoke. “I and Antonio Conte are both from Salento. He is from Lecce, I am from Squinzano, a town in the province of Lecce. Between us there is a beautiful relationship of mutual esteem since we have followed each other throughout our careers. His friendship is a personal enrichment for me and I am very happy about this”.
“I have a special relationship with the World Cup as it is the most technically challenging and longest tournament there is. There are the 32 strongest and best teams in the world competing, and to win the World Cup for so many in a row and stay in excellence is difficult. Now the World Cup will be played once every two years, and I don’t like that. For business issues they have changed the time frame in which the top world competition will be played. I don’t agree with it since you lose the charm and importance of the competition, the world cup like the Olympics also have an important value due to the fact that they are not arranged in close time frames.
“This is an exciting time for the Italian volleyball movement and for our sport. It has never happened since 1950 in the Soviet Union that the women’s and men’s national volleyball teams won the World Cup in the same year. It is a great pride for all of us who are part of this movement and I am very proud to have been a part of it. The Italian league is one of the best in Europe for the quality of the players and coaches and the organization. Our league exceeds the average level of all other leagues, even though there are so many foreigners. Our sport is a world benchmark.
“Do I ever get angry? In training I am more pressing, but during the game I try to help out and provide solutions to the athletes. When you are a coach, you cannot be a supporter, you have to be lucid and reason about the choices you have to make. When I was in the role of a setter you learn to reason about what you are doing, so I do now in my role as a coach. If there is no need to raise my voice, I don”t want to put additional pressure on the athletes” shoulders.
“Julio Velasco is a master, with him I went through some very important experiences and transitions in my career. We have different characters as are the characters of people. The important thing is to use the things you need from your character to do great things. I did not see the Napoli game yesterday as I came home late and was very busy. I follow Antonio Conte and root for him on everything, given also the paths he and Napoli” have taken.
“I admire Antonio Conte as well as all football coaches since, when I complain about the pressure, I remember that coaches in soccer are constantly under pressure. He is a wonderful, witty guy and the way he is demanding and tough on himself and the players is just the part of someone who wants to give and do the best he can for himself and his team. I don’t know what the cup was made of, but it weighed about 50 pounds so much that they had a hard time holding it. The cup was heavy as was the victory we did”.
