Italian football coach Francesco Calzona commented on his demanding workload, which since about mid-February has not only included the Slovak national team, but also the “resuscitation” of the struggling reigning Serie A champion SSC Napoli. He also commented on his future.
There is no time for fatigue and support from the family
On Wednesday afternoon, he announced his nomination for the two March preparatory matches of the Slovak national team, only a day after he ended up on the bench of the Italian SSC Napoli on the shield of FC Barcelona in the round of 16 of the Champions League. On Tuesday evening, he was still in the capital of Catalonia, then he headed for Naples and on Wednesday morning he boarded the plane again so that he could go to the Slovak national team.
news-item-description">The players of SSC Napoli in the lineup with Slovak midfielder Stanislav Lobotka did not advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
“I don’t feel any fatigue at this moment because I have a lot to do,” explained the 55-year-old Calzona with the message that he doesn’t have time to be tired: “Yesterday I flew from Barcelona to Naples and this morning from Naples to Bratislava. But when I was heading back to this country, I felt something special inside me. I may feel tired in the evening, but at this moment I feel full of energy and happy to be here.”
Fatigue would not be unusual in his case, because since mid-February he has been devoting his energy not only to the national team, but also to the resurrection of Napoli. If until now he spent little time in the company of his family, now he has even less.
“Of course, I have a little daughter who may miss me a little during this period, but she goes to all the matches and is dressed in the Slovakian Lobotka jersey and also wears the Osimhena jersey from Napoli. She fell in love with both teams,” Calzona smiled and then spoke more seriously.
“It’s completely understandable that it’s not easy, because with all the responsibilities I have, I don’t see much of my family. But there is always time to spend together. In any case, they are very supportive and happy for me.”
Francesco Calzona, SSC Napoli, source: Imago
When would he reject a call for help from Naples
It didn’t work out with the French Rudi Gracio, but neither did the returnee Walter Mazzarri. The Italian master was still drowning and could not find the right way to better performance and the necessary results. The management of “I partenopei” therefore decided to contact someone who knows it very well under Vesuvius and has achieved results.
The choice fell on Francesco Calzona, who was able to take over the Slovak “falcons” and fly with them all the way to the final EURO 2024 tournament, which will take place this summer in Germany. With the approval of the Slovak Football Association, the Italian accepted the offer and got to work.
However, he has two, as he also sits on the bench of our national team. How can he manage it all? He explained his system Wednesday afternoon. “Even though we accepted the offer to work in Naples, we continued with the same commitment to the services of the Slovak national team,” assures Calzona.
“Our two Italian colleagues remained only in the service of the national team, along with four other Slovaks. During the day, especially in the evening, we devote all our time only to the national selection. When I received the offer from Napoli, we were already in the process of preparing for the match against Austria and Norway. We had enough time before, so we got down to it and didn’t leave everything to the last minute.” explains.
“However, I have to assure everyone that if we had ‘official’ matches on the program (not preparatory matches, editor’s note), I would not have accepted the offer from Napoli.” declared Calzona, who once again thanked SFZ. “They allowed me to take on this great challenge. It’s important to me because Naples means a lot to me, so I’d like to say thank you officially like this.”
Francesco Calzona (right) celebrates Slovakia’s promotion to EURO 2024 with the players. Source: TASR
The future? I don’t even know what will happen tomorrow morning
He is tied to the national team selection from the Tatras until the end of 2025, and from Vesuvius until the end of the current season. But what will happen if Napoli are satisfied with the work of Francesco Calzona and the team progresses under his hands? The fact is that although SSC was eliminated from the Champions League, overall performance was poor.
So how would the Calabrian decide if he received an offer to stay at Diego Armando Maradona’s stadium? “Now I can’t even tell what I’m going to do tomorrow morning,” he laughed “Of course, if something happens, I have a contract with SFZ.”
news-item-description">Former Czech youth national team coach David Holoubek and former Czech national team player Martin Jiránek declared that the “dual function” of the Italian Francesco Calzona is nonsense and something like that cannot work.
“So if something happens in the future, in a year, two months, five months, then we will have to make a decision, but we will make it together. It has always been this way, because we have a very strong and sincere cooperation,” Talian claims “I repeat, when the best possible offer comes, we will decide together with SFZ for the best solution. However, to reassure you, I haven’t received any offer yet.”
Calzon’s double pocket attracted a lot of attention in Slovakia, and not everyone agreed with it. The coach of the national team even earned criticism from across the Morava River, where his double workload was called nonsense.
“I’ll say it one more time. It was a period that made something like this possible. If they were official matches, I would never accept it. I will never forget that SFZ was the first to put their trust in my hands (in the position of head coach). They stood behind me in difficult moments, they always showed me a lot of respect and that’s why I certainly had no intention of disappointing them to go and do something to bypass this team.” added Francesco Calzona in conclusion to the burning question.
news-item-description">Coach Francesco Calzona has been sitting on two chairs since last week. Will his work in Naples affect his work with the Slovak national team? Slovan Bratislava did not make it to the sixteenth round of the Conference League. What difficult challenges await the club in the coming months? The former president of the Union of Football Coaches of Slovakia, Ladislav Borbély, looked at the two main topics in Slovak football with the eyes of an expert.
2024-03-13 19:15:00
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