Cagliari, Torres then the marriage for life with the Giallorossi. “I’ve been here for 12 years, but how hard it is to combine work and training”
GHILARZA. Rocky, confident, determined. The list of adjectives to be associated with the name of Fabio Chergia is long. Almost as interminable as the list of games played by the thirty-one-year-old defender from Cabras with the Ghilarza shirt. «Sunday against Asseminese I celebrated the three hundred and fiftieth match with the Giallorossi jersey – he says -. It was a wonderful emotion made even more suggestive by the fact that it came in conjunction with an important external victory. I dedicate this milestone to my family. My wife Elisa and little two year old Alice always follow me. They are my strength. They give me a lot of enthusiasm and the desire to continue playing football at these levels ».
Chergia knows the true values of sport well. Sweat and sacrifice. There are no shortcuts to reach the goal of success. «I train hard to stay competitive and it is not easy to reconcile the green rectangle with family and work commitments. I am a shift worker in the factory, it is often practically impossible to do everything. That’s why I rely on the care of a personal athletic trainer who follows me when I can’t train with my teammates. Thanks to the holidays I was able to give continuity to the pre-season preparation, but for the rest I have to make do ».
It is no coincidence that the captain represents a point of reference for all teammates. Inside, but also off the pitch. «A good group has been created. The company is healthy and there is a warm and familiar environment ». The result is there for all to see: for twelve years Chergia has chosen not to move from Ghilarza. It is here that he managed to write the most important pages of his career. “After starting to kick the ball in my country, I did the whole process of the Cagliari youth teams, from the very young to the Primavera”.
What the Oristano talent lacked to take the final flight. «Those were other times. The Rossoblù managers of the time did not have the same policy of recent years with respect to the young island players ».
Great football only touched Chergia, who nevertheless was not demoralized and made the defenses impenetrable, which from time to time relied on her tactical sagacity. First the Sanluri in Serie D, then the Torres in Excellence to then land at Ghilarza. The rest is recent history. The same characteristics that made Chergia famous in the fields all over the island have remained intact of the young rossoblù promise. “I’m a rocky defender, mangy for the attackers who face me. I don’t focus on physicality, but on the sense of position and the desire to fight. How many epochal battles with the greatest center-forward in circulation. I remember with affection and nostalgia the clashes with Gigi Marras and Christian Ibba. Among the players with whom I was lucky enough to share the dressing room, I have no doubt that the strongest of all was Daniele Ragatzu at the time of the Cagliari Primavera ».
Chergia is a great football fan and has no difficulty in traveling to all latitudes of the Pallonara galaxy. «I have always been inspired by Fabio Cannavaro. For me he has always been an example. I am also a great fan of Cagliari and Inter ».