WORDS OF WISDOM IN MONACO
like they talk about me for what I did or I am doing. I would like the
value of a person was transmitted first.
HM: How did the football industry develop in the last decades?
AC: The world of football has changed a lot in recent times making
it more like a PlayStation game. There is no big difference between
your children’s preferred video games and the real game
on the football field. Any creativity has been put down for the
technique of the game, that is the sprinting. Nowadays, physical
training is much more accurate than in the past, involving every
single movement. Not by chance, you can achieve amazing results
already at the age of ten. In other words, «natural talent»
doesn’t exist anymore. We could say that modern footballers are
«created» in laboratories. Thus, also acting as sport agent is now
out of date, as I have been saying for a long time. Today, it is better
to talk about «football advisor» to help skilled players’ families
in the management of the champions’ careers. Furthermore,
parents want to be the real footballers’ agents, taking part in the
business and excluding outsiders. Once, footballers’ relatives were
not aware of anything, nor of the agent’s role before I created this
professional figure.
HM: Maybe it would be interesting to invest in a sort of ‘breeder machine’
to create future football champions?
AC: Why not. Talent is in the blood. Not by chance, Maradona was
already fairly appreciated when he was sixteen, as described in the
newspaper abstract I keep here, in my office. Besides, about twenty
years ago I made a statement in advance. I suggested sports agents
to visit nurseries in order to select future champions. The age to become
skilled players is getting younger.
HM: Are there new football champions coming out?
AC: My professional task has always been focused on discovering
new talents and making them football’s leading figures. In this very
moment, I see great potential in the Spanish 17-years-old player
Raúl Moro. Professionally born within Futbol Club Barcelona, currently
he is part of the Italian Lazio team. Soon, you will hear about
him. Another star of the future is from Rosario, Argentina, the same
birthplace of Lionel Messi. Messi’s brother has noted him when he
was 10 and made sure to stress his talent. I can assure you that he is
the «reincarnation» of Maradona. Barcelona
Football Team has already engaged him for a
lot of millions of euros.
HM: You know many top-ranked football players
and famous people; have you ever built up
a friendship with some of them?
AC: Absolutely. Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri,
better known as Dunga, head coach of Brazil,
David Trezeguet and Aldair are close friends
of mine but I have many more... And then
there is Roberto Baggio with whom I rarely
meet but when it happens we always celebrate. He has always
been very humorous. By the way, let me tell this funny story. Just
after the 1990 World Cup, I invited him with Giuseppe Schillaci,
the so-called «Fratelli d’Italia» («Brothers of Italy», Italian national
anthem performed in the beginning of every match of the Italian
national team. — Ed.), to spend a whole week in Monaco at Le Méridien,
in the company of their girlfriends. One night, I was awoken
by someone knocking at the door of my hotel room. I realized it
My professional
task has always
been focused on
discovering new
talents and making
them football’s
leading figures.
The iconic official poster of the 2011 edition of the ‘Golden Foot Award’
was 5 a.m. and I was really surprised when two waiters came in carrying
two carts full of any kind of gourmet delicatessen. Still asleep,
I went back to my bed and only some hours
later, when finally I awoke, I realized what had
happened. I called the reception immediately
asking for explanations and they confirmed
I ordered everything and they could show me
a doodle signature on the bill. I didn’t know
what to think, at the time, until I met Baggio
and Schillaci who asked me if I had slept well
while they were chuckling. It was immediately
clear to me that it was their joke at my
expense. Funny guys!
HM: Have you ever thought to collect your stories
in a book or in a video documentary?
AC: Yes, I have already done. I wrote «Nessuno Prima di Me» (No One
Before Me), published by Libreria dello Sport, where I collected some
relevant personal experiences on the evolution over time of Football
and the role of a sports agent. I haven’t lost the passion to write and
I would like to publish a couple of books to point out what should be
improved on the football agents’ front.
Hello Monaco Spring–Summer 2020 / 31
www.hellomonaco.ru