Former Milan striker Pippo Inzaghi revealed his playing career ended a year early because of coach Max Allegri. Inzaghi has released a new book entitled “The Right Moment” and excerpts have been published in Italian newspaper La Gazzetta Dello Sport. The former Italy international revealed details about his extensive playing career, the decision to quit playing and his time post-retirement:
THE LAST GOAL, THE GIFT AT MY SAN SIRO
“Dictating the pass is like a long-distance dance step with your partner: you have to work well as a couple, he has to serve you at the right time and you have to be in the right place. All of me is in this action. I start on the offside line. Seedorf understood in advance, his throw is perfect, I stopped it with my chest and slip slightly to the right. But I don’t need to look at the goal, it never helped me: I “feel” it.
“Fontana, the Novara goalkeeper, promptly comes out to meet me and closes the door for me, at least that’s what he believes. I make a right footed shot and the ball goes into the net. I go crazy. I run under the curva, the first to hug me is Nesta. The last shot of my life is a goal: I no longer have any doubts, I won’t be tempted by any offer, this is my last game. It’s over. Before returning to midfield, I stop, turn towards the fans, kneel, lift my shirt and kiss it. A moving kiss, sweet, swollen with eternal gratitude. The referee whistles, I see my nephew Tommaso running to me. I hold him tightly, my heart closes. I look at my team and say ciao… Bye Milan, bye San Siro. It was wonderful.
I QUIT A YEAR EARLIER FOR ALLEGRI
“It was Allegri who ended my playing career. In fact, in the spring of 2012 Milan and I had reached an agreement to extend my contract by one year. I would have been an important glue in the locker room which in a short time had lost Maldini, Pirlo, Nesta, Gattuso, Seedorf. Important players that had left a deep void. I would not have made any claims… Galliani was happy to have found this solution together with me. Allegri, on the other hand, rejected it, he didn’t want me in the locker room anymore and told the manager, asking that my contract not be renewed. For me it was a blow.”
WITHOUT A BALL I HAD THE PAIN OF LIVING
“In the autumn of 2015, the balloon was deflated for the first time: it no longer bounced. And I couldn’t absorb the distance from my world, from the scent of the grass, from the sacredness of the locker room. I got up in the morning and didn’t know how to get to the evening. I went to the gym, but without enthusiasm, just to pass the time, fill the day and prevent boredom and discouragement from taking over. My body sent me unmistakable signals of discomfort. I’m scared. Indeed, I say it clearly and without shame: I was afraid. I did four gastroscopies and other unpleasant tests, I always traveled with a bag full of CDs with ultrasounds and MRIs that I showed to various specialists. I feared I had something serious, even ALS. They have been months of hardship and suffering, where I was struggling to find a way out. Some call it ‘the sickness of living’, some call it something else. I preferred to dribble beyond definitions and diagnoses and face reality. I understood what the problem was and I overcame it little by little, surrounding myself with the love of the family. My parents were amazing: they understood what I needed.”
