“Thanks to all the journalists for coming. I want to thank to the club, all employees and everyone at Milanello for what have been 13 fantastic years. It was my childhood dream but life goes on and let’s hope my eye stay open (laughs). I still want to keep fighting and to show that I’m not finished as a player. For now I want to thank the club, the Berlusconi family and Adriano Galliani who showed such regard for me. But now the moment has come."
“I’ve always said that I don’t want to be a cross to bear for anyone. The club wanted me to stay but inside myself, I felt the need to leave. The spine of the team is leaving and even though it’s not easy, you have to make choices in life. Let’s hope it’s not a mistake.”
“It’s not running away. It’s just that when you’ve given so much, you make choices. I couldn’t give anymore as a player and I felt dead inside and no longer that combative player that could give something to this club. 5 or 6 months ago I had other plans. I wasn’t hoping to get back on the pitch and the plan was to stay at the club with another role. But then things changed thanks to the medical staff and doctors. I got the desire back to play again and here I think I’ve given all I can. I never asked for a fixed place. In my way of thinking, the only certainty is death. I did bad by Leonardo, but I assumed my responsibilities and I apologized. There was still place for me here otherwise they wouldn’t have given me a contract extension.”
“I’ll leave at Milanello what Maldini and Costacurta left for me. Now there’s only Ambrosini left. I really regret the stupid things I did with Joe Jordan and Leonardo. I hope that the reputation for respect continues however, as it’s a part of the culture at the club and I hope it won’t die.”
“To the players who stay here I say, when you put on this jersey, you need to win. I don’t forget that 4 months ago I was 5 kg overweight because of the cortisone. I wasn’t in good enough shape to play and it was a miracle that I made it on the pitch. I could feel inside myself that the time had come and after watching Nesta’s press conference I knew the moment had come because a cycle had finished.”
“I hope the club will build a competitive side but we can’t forget that economically it’s a tough time. Knowing the people involved though, I know they’ll do all they can.”
“I have 60 people who work for me, I have a wide and two children and I have to decide with my wife what to do in the future. She’s the family captain. I have offers. My dream is to play for Glasgow Rangers who gave me the chance to play when I was a no one from Salerno. My wife’s mother lives alone in Glasgow and it would be nice to go back for a year. It would be my heart’s choice, a sign of affection for those who made me into a ‘half’ player, even if I know it wouldn’t be easy.”
“For me Carlos Ancelotti was a coach, a friend, a father and a lover in football terms. I used to joke that they should put his statue in Milanello alongside Nereo Rocco because he was a great man in those years and raised the bar at the club. He wasn’t just a coach, he was an emblem of the club and when you took to the pitch, you did it for him. He used to day: “You get on the pitch and I’ll make you win”. He used to plan the matches with a cigarette in his mouth, incredible.”
“I can’t forget last year with Allegri, we had a great campaign and he gave me the chance to play. We’re talking about two people completely different. Ancelotti knew the environment and it was a much simpler changing room than now.”
“My team mates were a bit disappointed. I didn’t speak to anyone about this decision. It was something that was boiling inside of me for a month and a half, and it was right to speak first with the club and then the players. They’ve put up with me in these past few years. I can be a heavy personality, I’m Calabrese…
“I would never join Inter or Juventus for the love of the club that I have and they wouldn’t want me anyway, but I definitely wouldn’t go.”
“On Monday I’ll start a four week training course and I plan to do the second and third parts of the course as well.”
“After the loss to Liverpool in 2007, I had nightmares for 5 or 6 months. The best win was in 2003. Beating Inter in the semi final and Juventus in the final was big for Italian football.”
(Montreal Impact).
