Graziano Pellé Intervista in Contropiede

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The translation of the interview to Graziano Pellè. • First name: Graziano • Surname: Pellè • Bad habits: Not many, apart from biting my nails due to the stress after games. • You moved to Southampton last July, how are you adapting to live in England? It’s ok now. The first month wasn’t very easy, even though I’m quite a positive person and don’t usually suffer from homesickness. But of course it’s better after those goals. • What are the differences between Southampton, Alkmaar and Rotterdam? • Alkmaar is a small town. They have their cheese trade show there. It’s particular, it’s funny and it’s a place where you can live well. As for Rotterdam, you can still see the damage from the war- they’re in a rebuilding stage. They have one of the biggest ports in the world. It’s a very beautiful city, there’s an old part of the city and a new one- there’s a marked distinction between the two. Southampton is another city with a port. It seems I always go to places where there’s the sea. I still have to get to know the city, I have just arrived, and there’s time. • You were given the nickname “Italian Stallion” in Holland after scoring 50 goals in 57 matches there. Is that true? • Yes, it’s true. I don’t know the details, I don’t know why they chose the name stallion… Joking aside, the head coach and his staff trusted me a lot and I rewarded them with a lot of goals. If I hadn’t scored all those goals, I wouldn’t be here now. • Tell us the weirdest thing that happened whilst you were in the Netherlands • There are a lot… When I was signing for AZ, I was discussing what shirt number I could have with Louis Van Gaal. I love the number 9, be it 9, 19 or 18- I’m not afraid of fate. Anyway, I like the number 9 because it symbolizes the striker. Van Gaal told me: “9 is taken, 19 is too… Ok, 90 or 99”. I replied: “No, no please, not those high numbers. Which number are you going to give me?” He: “29 or 39”… And I said: “I don’t like 29 very much”. Van Gaal said: “Then 90 or 99”, and I reiterated my disappointment. Van Gaal is very strict and I eventually said: “Then I’m not signing for the club”. He got very angry, stood up and went to my agent and said to him: “How dare this guy to do something like that?” I then told him that I was joking. He is a great coach too. • You converted a panenka penalty at the U21-Euros in Holland in 2007. Did you draw inspiration from Totti, who did the same at Euro 2000 in Holland too? • Yes, it was great to watch his successful panenka penalty kick. He is obviously a specialist at it. I had a verbal wager with Montolivo and Chiellini and they told me: If you have the courage, then do it! The adrenaline of the game helped me stay calm. I felt more tense when I saw the penalty on TV after the game. • Which player inspired you to play football? • My father. He used to play in minor leagues. He got to play in Serie C, but if you speak to all his former colleagues, it looks like they were Van Basten or Rijkaard. They keep saying that it was a lot more difficult back then to make it to Serie C, you know, the usual stories. He used to show me all the videos of great players: Van Basten, the Brazilian Ronaldo, I grew up drawing inspiration from all the great players who used to play back then. • We know that you were a dancing champion and that this is a passion of yours. How did it start? • My mother loved dancing, my three-year-older sister also did it. It was a two-person-dance, so she needed a partner. I said that I would dance with my sister to make my mother happy. I even had to use heels because my older sister was taller than me. When I started playing for Lecce, I quit dancing because it was a great opportunity and my mother understood that. • What would you do in order to score your first ever goal for the senior national team? • I better not reveal that because I would be forced by my teammates to actually do it. I’ll give my all, but I don’t know what I’d do. • Now say hello to the Vivo Azzurro users through a sentence in dialect from Salento, in Dutch and English. • • • L'attaccante del Southampton e della Nazionale si racconta ai microfoni di vivoazzurro. • I canali web ufficiali di Vivo Azzurro e delle Nazionali Italiane di Calcio • Siti: http://www.vivoazzurro.it http://www.figc.it • G+:https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/1102615... • Facebook: / figc • Twitter: / vivo_azzurro • Instagram: / vivoazzurro

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