Frey tells his story in a book: “In Florence I wanted to become a flag bearer like Antognoni”

A child and his dream, a man and his torments. It is an intimate and introspective journey that Sebastien Frey does on the pages of Pure instincthis biography (with Federico Calabrese, Minerva editions, 20 euros, in bookstores from September 11th). Indeed, more than a biography it is a sort of notebook where the man more than the goalkeeper he took notes on his life. Almost as if he wanted to put things in order. The good ones, of course, but also the bad ones. Because it is precisely there, in the difficulties, that a Frey emerges far from the stereotype of the footballer and who he is not afraid, nor ashamed, to show himself fragile and vulnerable like any other person. The son, the father, the husband. Beyond the talent and the challenges won playing football. A life without gloves, saved by gritting one’s teeth. Never give upnever give up, that’s his motto. «I took a bite out of life – says Frey – I grew up with little, I fell but I always got back up».

A life made of encounters, wrapped around football, which although it takes up a good part of the book appears almost faded. A necessary and inevitable background to tell the story of a great goalkeeper, but it’s more than anything else that he wanted to bring out. Even if sometimes the passes are accelerated, almost as if he wanted to overcome the pain. The first serious injury, the separation from his first wifethe risk of dying from a virus. Shards of memory embedded in the successes of Frey the player. His career is the common thread of the book, from the first games in the parking lot behind his house to his successes.

Little Sebastian he was a happy childeven though he had nothing. His parents worked but his family struggled to make ends meet and Christmas was without toys. But football united them. His grandfather and his father had been good players who had reached the French second division. The grandfather had also played for the national team. The first turning point was when he was ten years old, when he arrived at Cannes. The second a few years later, in 1998, the year of the move to Inter. Some time before he had said no to Juve, “which had also included a Fiat Barchetta as a bonus in the contract”, but Moratti’s team seemed to him the right choice for his entry into the big time. From then on the pages of the book slip away between victories and defeatsbetween true friends («I’ve had many») and anecdotes. Like that time «during a training session with Inter I blocked my back and went to the locker room to get treatment. Then came Paulo Sousathe beds were all occupied and he made me get off mine. I was in terrible pain, but he forced me to sit on a chair.”

Old stories that today he tells with a smile, but in those days the young Frey had a somewhat restless character. And then you browse and remember. The first match as a starter in Serie A against Fiorentina, almost a sign of destiny, the scooter that flies down from the San Siro curve thrown by the fans, the not very happy meeting with Prandelli in Verona («The first two weeks he didn’t speak to me, just good morning out of politeness»), the relationship with the trainer Di Palma («But then he also betrayed me»), the arrival in Parma, where he found Prandelli, the difficult relationship with Silvio Baldini («It was cold and once he made us go on the pitch bare-chested to punish us»), the Parmalat crash and life that intersects with history. The meeting with Alessandro, a sick child “who I saw almost every day until the end. I have a special bond with his parents.”

And finally Florence. «It was Diego Della Valle’s son who closed the contract – Frey says – He was five years old and told his father: I only want Frey in goal. It was a great project, I was enthusiastic and to come to Fiorentina I gave up a million in salary». We know the Viola story of those years well, but in Frey’s life fate entered with a bang (and not only fate). Coppa Italia, Juve is winning 4-1 in Turin, the end of the match is near, the Viola goalkeeper comes out with his feet and gets to the ball first but Zalayeta instead of skipping it (when Frey talks about him he loses his calm a bit…) he hits hard on the leg. At first it doesn’t seem serious, but the diagnosis is devastating: the knee is destroyed, the career is at risk.

“My world collapsed. I was only 25 years old and that accident threatened to compromise everything.” Various consultations, then the decision to have surgery in Strasbourg. A difficult and very long operation. “I stayed in the operating room for four hours, to rebuild the knee They had to remove my kneecap and reattach it.” When he woke up he was tied to the bed. The pain was very strong. Many called him, but not Zalayeta. Despite the injury, Fiorentina redeemed his contract, but Frey entered a shadow cone from which they helped him to emerge Roberto Baggio and Buddhism.

The return was long and tiring (“Another fall from which I got up”), and then Calciopoli hit Fiorentina. The penalty, another rebirth, this time sporting, the shadows on Montolivo, who asked the club to remove the captain’s armband from Frey, friendship with Mutu and Toni («When Luca came back from the World Cup he had a belt that lit up, it was really ugly») and the one with Lupatelli and Avramov. A life at full speed, again. A little less reckless («Especially in the exits») but still a protagonist. Then the Champions League, the victory at Anfield, the madness of the referee Ovrebo against Bayern Munich, the defeat in the semi-final with i Glasgow Rangers and half of Europe who had lined up for him in front of Branchini’s office, his agent. «I was very clear with Giovanni, I’m not leaving Fiorentina. You have to face luck and I felt that in Florence I had paid my bill.”

Yet there was another dangerous curve in his life, but he didn’t know it yet. In training, before Fiorentina-Chievo, he tore his anterior cruciate ligament. And more or less at the same time his wife left home with the children and moved to Forte dei Marmi. It was a violent slap. «To overcome that moment if in therapy». His life was falling apart. Moreover, Corvino just didn’t want to know about that talented and perhaps a bit cumbersome goalkeeper. «While we were in retreat, I received a fax, he had asked the League a fine of 99 thousand euros because he said I had arrived at the retreat overweight». He tried to warn the Della Valles not to trust Corvino, but the answer was dry: «We take note of it». He spoke to Mihajlovic: «You can’t let the club tell you who should play».

Nothing, it was over. «I loved Florence from day one where I arrived, I felt it was my home. I always thought that I would end my career in Florence, I dreamed of becoming a flag like Antognoni. Instead…”.

Instead, goodbye Italy. In front of a white Burgundy Frey decides to accept the oBursaspor player and flies to Türkiye. Devastating experience ends with a financial lawsuit. He understands that it is time to retire. He leaves football and goes to live in Nice. And on July 14, 2016, the night of the massacre, he was also supposed to be on the Promenade Des Anglais to see the fireworks, but his plane was delayed and he remained at home. “That day marked me forever”.

Yeah, and then? And then a few years later, in 2019, one morning he wakes up and can only move his head. Paralyzed. Scared. Petra, his partner, takes him to the hospital. The doctors don’t understand what’s wrong with him. Meningitis? Maybe. An autoimmune disease? Maybe. Finally the diagnosis: it is a virus that can be deadly. A month of treatments and anguish, depression. Frey even goes to the notary to make a will, then the umpteenth, slow, restart. “I started to defeat the virus when I told myself I could do it.” And everything ended well. He married Petrawith whom she had two children, and she recovered her relationship with her other two children. And this book, more than the arrival in Florence, paid the bill. Never give up.