Read Online I Think Therefore I Play by Andrea Pirlo, Alessandro Alciato - Free Book Online Page A

whole thing lasted five minutes, and when Lippi had finished, a good few of us sought Pippo Inzaghi’s reaction out of the corner of our eye.
    Lippi was the catalyst for a very special experience and emotion that nobody can ever take away from us. But he’s also at the heart of a thought that troubles me from time to time. Whenever I meet him, I remember that had he stayed on as Inter coach, I’d probably have become a standard bearer at the club. A less moustachioed Beppe Bergomi. 21 An Esteban Cambiasso 22 with more hair.
    My career would certainly have gone in a very definite direction. Had Lippi been in charge, I’d have stayed at Inter for life. 23 After all, they were my team as a kid, when I was an ultra with a dummy. My absolute idol was Lothar Mätthaus. He was the No.10 who scored the goals and inspired the rest – for me, there was nobody better. The time I met him on holiday in Viareggio and got his autograph was for a long while the best and most important day of my life.
    After Mätthaus came Roberto Baggio. Just as well I had a big bedroom, so that both their posters would fit on the wall and I didn’t have to pick which god to pull down from Mount Olympus.
    I was still an Inter fan when I was playing for Brescia, but then I spent some time at the club and my outlook changed somewhat. At the end of season 1997/98 I was in camp with the Italy under-21s when my agent rang. “Andrea, you’re moving. We’ve done a deal with Parma. All you need to do is sign the contract.”
    I really let myself get carried away with the happiness of the moment, condensing my infinite enthusiasm into a single word: “Okay.”
    The following morning, I got home and it was suddenly all change once more. My mobile went again – more insistently than usual. “Hi Andrea, it’s Tullio. Look, last night the Inter president Moratti phoned Luigi Corioni at Brescia to talk about you. They agreed everything between them in less than 10 minutes. You’re off to play for the team you love. You’re an Inter player – you’ve done it! Now go and get ready; we need to take you to Appiano Gentile for your medical.” There followed another explosion of joy, even more powerful than the first one: “Okay, no worries.”
    I might not have looked it, but I was the happiest man alive, proud of having thrown myself into the world shown in those posters. I wanted to stick myself up on that wall. I was going to be a team-mate of Ronaldo, Baggio, Djorkaeff – me, the guy who now and again still went to games with a black-and-blue scarf round his neck and who, at 16 years of age, had been invited to play a trial match in Eindhoven by the top men at the club, people like Sandro Mazzola. 24
    I played a lot in my first season at Inter. Pre-season went really well, and Gigi Simoni gave me plenty of game time, both as a starter and from the bench. Mircea Lucescu tended to favour the older guys, Luciano Castellini thought I was okay, while Roy Hodgson mispronounced my name. He called me Pirla (dickhead), perhaps understanding my true nature more than the other managers.
    Moratti went through four of them that season. 25 It was during this time I started to suffer from migraines and sudden memory loss. I’d wake up in the morning and not remember who my coach was. I’d still be smiling, in blissful ignorance. Confused, but grinning.
    The following year, they brought in Lippi. I did the full pre-season under him, but he then pulled me aside to give me a heartfelt message. “Andrea, for your own good, you need to go and play somewhere else, at least for a season. Get some experience under your belt. It’ll stand you in good stead, you’ll see.”
    I ended up at Reggina, and I did indeed learn a lot. In particular, how to take on more responsibility, and how to get stuck in and fight in the mud.
    At the start of season 2000/01, I went back to Inter. Lippi was still there, but he didn’t last much longer, barely a single game. I missed that trip