Young Juventus winger Francisco Conceicao recently shared his thoughts on the art of dribbling and his football philosophy in an interview with La Stampa. Coming from a family deeply rooted in football, with his father Sergio Conceicao as a coach and four brothers who also play the sport, Francisco has quickly made a name for himself.
Francisco, you are the most talented and famous…
“Dad tells me and my brothers to always be ourselves: if you’re happy, you can pull off the perfect dribble in a match.”
Let’s go in order.
“José is nine years old, but he knows his way around a ball. Then there’s me, there’s Moises in the Portuguese third division, and there are the two defenders, Rodrigo, 24, in Zurich and Sergio, 27, from Anorthosis, in the Cypriot first division. A nice little team (smiles).”
“Francisco has football in his blood,” says Thiago Motta. True?
“For me, football is everything… my mood is closely linked to what happens in the match: I try to keep work and family separate, but often I can’t, and so at home, I carry a bit of nervousness if things don’t go as they should.”
Dribbling as your mission.
“I draw inspiration from street football, a way of thinking that engages fans’ interest: people come to the stadium to find creativity, to get excited watching a play that can bring joy. I will never lose sight of this perspective.”
San Siro, Inter-Juve….
“Motta asks us for creativity when we’re in the final third of the field. He tells us that within a collective strategy, everyone is then free to make the best use of their own characteristics. And these are mine.”
Can one-on-one be coached?
“It can be improved, but you have to feel it within you.”
Do you like to feel the pressure on you, or is it better to shake it off?
“I strongly believe that winning should be a necessity: I lived a bit in Amsterdam, at Ajax, quite a bit at Porto, and now at Juve. Historic clubs and clubs where it matters to finish ahead of others.”
In Porto, your father Sergio was the coach.
“An honour, and I don’t say that because he’s my father: the facts speak for him. An honor and a burden: I don’t deny that it wasn’t easy having him as a coach, but at the same time, this situation was a push to improve myself every day to prove that I wasn’t favored. I made it to the national team on my own…”
How does Papa Sergio try to stay close to you?
“We talk before and after every match, but he never intervenes on tactical themes or strategic situations that belong to the technical aspects, he keeps his distance from that. In our phone calls, we talk about me, how I feel, how I should face the challenge from a mental point of view.”
Five children who all love football.
“We grew up challenging each other at home with mom going crazy taking us to training. With a father like that, after all, it was natural that we fell in love with football, but dad never imposed anything on us: only if you feel fulfilled will you be happy, that’s his refrain.”
Thuram to Conceicao to Weah: the goal for 2-2 against Parma. Three footballing sons….
“A beautiful moment. Among ourselves, we talk about the ‘strange’ circumstance that binds us to a common history. My father and Thuram’s father even played together…”
From Porto to Turin. From the Douro to the Po…
“Porto is wonderful, Turin intrigues me a lot: here there’s everything to live my profession at its best.”
Outside of football, in Francisco’s world we find…
“Cooking is my passion: I live with my girlfriend Matilde, we’re ready to challenge you even on carbonara.”
Cooking and then?
“TV series or movies: I like staying at home. Matilde studies, she finished her three-year degree at university and now she’s dedicating herself to a year of intensive English. I used to study, then when I arrived at Porto B, I no longer found the time and concentration to continue.”
Will Turin intrigue you also in the near future?
“I don’t see myself as just passing through with this jersey, I can’t make other statements because it’s not up to me to make them. But I like the Juve project…”
Street football, for you “futebol de rua”: its spirit is being lost a bit everywhere…
“Unfortunately, that’s how it is. When I see my little brother José forced to move as if caged in schemes already at his age, it hurts me: free football is something else and that’s what people go to watch matches for.”
Free football led you to the magic of Leipzig: how many times have you rewatched that goal?
“It was a beautiful moment, for me and for the team: in Germany I scored my most beautiful goal, but I’m working to make even better ones. I like to think big, I would like, one day, to be remembered as one of the strongest.”
A jump into Saturday evening’s duel: there’s Torino at the Stadium. What do you know about the derby?
“I know it’s a derby: that word is enough. For us in Portugal, these are challenges that are worth a season, I think this way even though I’ve only been here for a few months: games like Saturday’s are not played, they are won.”
A look back at that second yellow card that cost you a suspension and some accusations of simulation.
“I was touched, the referee could have not given or given the penalty, but I didn’t simulate. In general, I always go a thousand miles an hour, looking for the dribble.”
Dribbling, already. An increasingly rare art.
“But beautiful…”
Is there a video of your dad that impressed you?
“Many, but one in particular: he was on the field with the PAOK jersey against Olympiacos towards the declining phase of his career and he scored with a ‘chip shot’. Chills.”
