“Winning the cup gives us a lot of enthusiasm”

I’m still excited about the success of the cup and looking forward to the action. So this afternoon, FC Lugano’s new sponsor Joe Mansueto appeared at Lake Lake for a media interview. Yesterday arrived in Lugano for the first time, the owner of Juventus held a press conference this afternoon.

Meeting with the authorities
But Mansueto’s day had already begun this morning, when he was received at the Civico Palace by a delegation from the municipality of Lugano made up of Mayor Michele Foletti, Deputy Mayor Roberto Badaraco and municipal officials Lorenzo Quadri and Tiziano Galeazzi. And Mansueto expressed his gratitude for winning the Swiss Cup. Thanks go to the players, the organization and the staff, but also to the fans and residents who supported the team and gave the green light to the new infrastructure of the Cornarido stadium.

“Acting step by step”
In the afternoon, as we mentioned, Mansueto went to Lake Lac to answer reporters’ questions. Italian and Swiss-German correspondents also attended. The American sponsor first of all expressed his intention to implement a long-term project, investing wisely and step by step. “Often investment is made in football which then doesn’t work,” Mansueto said. “I believe in rational approaches, with gradual growth.” The hope is to bridge the gap over time with the best teams “but taking one step at a time”. If you advance “strongly, you must be strongThe“.

Lugano-Chicago Axis
The owner of the American Chicago Fire team, Mansuetto, explained that for him the two teams are on the same level and no one controls the other. Moreover, according to him, “the presence of more teams can lead to many advantages, both at the sporting and managerial levels: there is the possibility for employees to share, to learn from each other and thus to improve.” And in terms of the possibility of transferring players from one team to another, I think that will happen in the next few years. I would be surprised if this didn’t happen.”

2.30 pm “A dream come true”
It was exciting to see the team win the Swiss Cup. Hope we can win again. The way I like to trade is to think long term. I am happy with the work done so far and I am really excited to be in Lugano.

2.36pm “Planned Trip”
We cheered for the cup from afar. I’m sorry I didn’t witness it in person, but this trip to Lugano these days has been planned for quite some time. Sportsly speaking, yesterday we saw the stadium. It was state-of-the-art when it was built, and it was interesting to visit, but now it’s been a while. We will now have a stadium that will be better in many ways. I liked the areas around the stadium a lot but if you look at the aspirations of the club there are improvements that can be made. We can improve the viewer experience. We think in these terms.

2.40 p.m. “Artificial grass or natural?”
Grass can be natural or synthetic. We work on both options, and we all agree that as long as we manage it, natural grass is better

2.42 p.m. “So proud of the trophy”
It feels great to win. With Chicago Fire, since I’ve been around, we haven’t won yet. The square filled with people celebrating, as it happened in Lugano, conveys great energy. I hope to win in the US too.

2.46 pm “The two clubs are on the same level”
Having more clubs can lead to many advantages, both at the sporting and managerial level. There is also the possibility for employees to share and learn from each other and thus improve. Even just looking at Lugano’s match, the style, the mentality, these are all things we can convey. Of course it will take some time, but the idea is this: share “best practices”. The two clubs are equal and no one is superior to the other.

2.50 pm “I want to increase the popularity of football in the United States.”
I would like a lot of young people to become so passionate about football that it is the most popular sport in the United States. To do this, we need to win over the masses, their hearts and their minds. And if we succeed, commercial success will also come

14.52 “Growth Again”
Let’s talk about a long-term plan. We have started thinking about other clubs we can evaluate, but at the moment we are not negotiating anything. For the future, of course, the idea is to grow more.

2.54 PM “We haven’t talked about the budget yet”
We haven’t talked about the budget yet. Maybe we’ll talk about that in the next few months. Winning the cup definitely makes us more excited to invest

14.57 Looking to Lombardy and beyond the Alps?
Lugano is a great city for a weekend getaway, and packages can be launched to entice Italian fans or fans from other parts of Switzerland to come, as well as the new stadium.

15.04 “Croci-Torti is very excited”
I’ve spoken to both the players and the manager. I really enjoy watching the matches. Bhutanese impressed me so much, even Sylar was a good revelation. Sabbatini has a great drive, but overall there were several players who surprised me positively. Nice team and nice new recruits. Croci-Torti has a great personality. He amazes you with his passion and energy. He is very extroverted, yet friendly, and very motivated. We risked having a young coach, but he is fighting for the team. A coach who won the cup from the first attempt what do I say? Impossible to do better

15.07 Europe? “We’ll see how far we can go.”
We will fight to the end, we are focused on the goal. Hopefully we will be able to qualify, but this is a whole new area for me

15.09 “Exchanges are possible”
I think in the next few years there will be a move for Lugano players to Chicago. There is talent in Lugano and there is talent in Chicago. I’d be surprised if these steps didn’t happen

3.11 pm Lugano-Chicago friendly?
I’ve thought about it and I think it’s already expected for the academies, it’s going to be the first step. It will happen this year. It is one of the advantages of having two teams as I mentioned earlier

15.13 Trouble in Chicago? “We are five points away from the playoffs.”
It is not a question of problems, but rather challenges. These are the aspects that we must work on. At the moment we are at the bottom of the standings, but there are 20 games left and we have five points from the playoffs. We have a lot of talent in Chicago and I think we’re starting to join a club, it takes patience. Our coach is convinced that we will play on the bench

15.16 Will Lugano one day have a budget for little boys?
We want to make rational decisions and spend wisely and step by step. There are often investments in football that then don’t work out, so I think the answer to success is a rational approach, with more spending that can go up, but don’t triple the budget overnight. We hope in time to close the gap with Basel, but by taking incremental steps, it will not be next year. If you advance strong, you will be strong

15.20 qualifiers? “I personally support”
We will see how the public will react to the presentation of the playoffs. I personally support it