I tell you who Falcao was

A life spent between his two passions: first football and then cooking. Roberto Scarnicia out of the previous of Rome, Naples, Pisa and Milan In the 1980s in first class, today he is a celebrity chef who, among other things, won the award four years ago. “seven hills”, Acknowledgment reserved for Giallorossi flags.

Mr. Skarnicia, how do you think football has changed today compared to when you were playing?
“Football today is much more than sports, entertainment, games and empathy.
With the fans of the eighties. Then there were more sporting purposes and reaching a competitive goal. Today, however, we are oriented towards commercial satisfaction and no longer emotional satisfaction. Lots of rationality with little emotion.”

How did your football career begin, do you remember your beginnings in the Roma diamonds?
“My passion for football started after cooking. I was seven or eight years old and was often in the kitchen with my mum and grandmother. Then, around the age of twelve, when doors were made out of school backpacks and played on the courts in front of the chapel. I used to play athletics It gradually turned to football.
I arrived in Roma when I was 17, playing in the Italian league, and from there my career was born.”

In Rome he played nearly a hundred matches alongside Tancredi, Falcao, Conte and Brozzo. Do you have any particular anecdotes that you remember?
“Falcao was a wonderful friend, mentor and life teacher but he was a wonderful person off the field as well as on the field. He is a person loved by those who are determined, his great point of view in his favour, which allowed him to become a great hero. Humble and at the same time a hero. In those years I remember many One of the funny things about Rome. Like we went to Spain to play and neither of us could speak Spanish, I was the only one who spoke English and when we asked for lunch or dinner, they all spoke Italian slowly, thinking that the Spanish waiters would understand it”

Was he nicknamed Bigino or Speedy Gonzalez, who gave you those two nicknames?
“I was given Bigino when I played in Milan because I was young and coconuts from the group. On the other hand, Speedy Gonzalez, because I was very fast and the athletics I was doing helped me a lot. They both gave me it first and then the press.”

How important is Nils Liedholm in your career?
“Very important, he was the second father both on and off the field. He always took me with him and I was considered one of his favorites. Obviously when one of the best coaches in the world says he bets on you, you also begin to believe in it. That was also the secret of my success. “.

Is it true that you sometimes cook in Roma restaurants?
“Yes, I often did it, but I always macaroni with very quick sauces, my former colleagues liked the first courses very much.”

Then he left Rome to go to Naples, and the Giallorossi won the Scudetto. Do you have any regrets?
“The fact of leaving Rome was also for the sake of my career, I obviously missed the timing. I didn’t leave Liedholm because he then took me back to Milan. So much so that I told him I wanted to go for an experiment and I went to Naples. I got the year wrong. I played in Napoli with Ramon Diaz and Claudio Pellegrini in a very strong attack. A beautiful memory of that year in the ranks of the Neapolitans.”

Do you remember Madonnina’s derby goal against Inter in the Italian Cup semi-finals?
“This goal allowed me to remain in the hearts of the Rossoneri fans, I started in the penalty area with Tirano giving me the ball with his hands. I went all the way and exchanged with Mark Hatley and then slipped on Zenga. I found myself in Milan Agostino di BartolomeiThe teammate I’ve played with most minutes of my career. I always say the wonderful thing is that we remember Augustine every day until today, the image of the eternal boy still in our minds.”

So why did you decide to go down to Serie C1 in Barletta in 1986?
“I was tired, I told myself I wanted to play another two years. Barletta gave me a crazy offer, I had decided at 30 to quit. I teamed up with Nicola de Ottavio, who we feel a lot about even today. He always made a difference in the third division. That is why he chose not to go up in this category. Together we won the championship. I am still very happy today because I made the decision to go to Barletta in those years, and I keep it in my heart.”

Then back to my first passion, which is Michelin-starred cooking.
“In 1990, as soon as I hung up my shoes, I went to my father’s restaurant in La Romanina and from there began my culinary career. I joined as a kitchen commissioner, the chef told me this was better than us and they immediately put me on first courses. Then I left for the USA where I spent Four years and I trained, and when I came back in 1999, I started my twenty-year career.”

If you got a call today to coach a soccer team, what would you do?
“If a request is made, I go to the coach, because football and cooking match very well and I am free to be a coach. It is an important part of my life and my heart and I cannot live without them.”

What are your future plans?
“I have a lot, at the moment I lead Ciao Chef on Alma Tv and for years Masterchef on Rome TV. I will do university cooking courses and have a personal YouTube channel. Before I touch a pot, we take a flour or a knife. There is a need to know the raw material and all its world behind it Well “.

Finally, how was your participation in the cult movie Born the Coach at the Ball?
“I am very close to Lino Banfi, we met on a set, I made him Roman. I am very attached to him, he called several of us from Rome to participate and every one made a spectacle.”

Pasquale Guardacione

Sports 07-16-2021 10:42