The Cagliari coach talks to Calciomercato L’Originale about his team’s feat which returns to Serie A after a year: “I told the boys to give everything and if the others had won we would have shaken their hands”. Ranieri like Zola and Riva: “I’m glad to be compared to Gianfranco, but let Riva leave him in Olympus”. On the playoffs: “In B it was good, the stadiums filled up, in A I don’t think it’s feasible”
CAGLIARI PARTY, 15,000 AT THE STADIUM
Special guest at Calciomercato L’Originale, the coach of Cagliari who has just been promoted to Serie A, Claudio Ranieri, talks about the extraordinary feat of his team taken in ninth place in Serie B and brought back to the top flight, through the victorious final in Bari in the playoffs, after only one season. “When you win, you live well, the boys have done good things and I have to say that Serie B with the playoffs is a nice thing – he says – Because teams that all deserved to climb reached the close final, this luck fell to us, this Russian roulette and we are very happy but all the teams we met deserved to go upIt’s a formula I like.”
“Me like Riva and Zola? Gigi let him stay in Olympus”
A formula also applicable to Serie A? “In Serie A there are already certain steps with the various cups, while in Serie B there are no – he explains again – Now there are two promotions plus one, when I had done it there were 4 promotions. It’s a good formula because even the stadiums have filled up”. In Cagliari, Claudio Ranieri like Gianfranco Zola and Gigi Riva: “I am very happy if you equate me to ZolaI threw it into the fray in Naples after the Maradona era, but Riva let him bebeing equated to Gianfranco makes me happy”.
“You always have to respect your opponent”
A Claudio Ranieri who continues to reap successes in the second part of his coaching career: “How much have I improved in recent years? Like Bonan when he broadcast in Florence, we have improved together – he says with a smile – If we are in the breach it means that we know how to renew ourselves“. On the match at San Nicola: “We are happy, we went to Serie A, on the other side there was a Bari crowd who pushed hard, we must be happy with what we did, why say something sportsman to opponents? I told my parents to give everything no and in the end if the others had gone we would have shaken their hands. You always have to respect your opponent, that’s the beauty of football, you win or you lose.”