First Team

Ahead of the Cavalluccio’s official season opener, in the press room at Orogel Stadium-Dino Manuzzi, head coach Alessandro Diamanti discussed the US Sassuolo vs. Cesena FC match, part of the Round of 32 of the Coppa Italia Frecciarossa, scheduled for Monday, August 17, at 6:30 p.m. at Mapei Stadium-Città del Tricolore.

“The team has been working exceptionally well since day one; today they’re in good physical shape and the players are ready. They’ve put in a month of hard work, and there are no excuses—there never should be. ‘No excuses’ is our motto on the field, so whoever takes the field must be ready to perform and give 100%.

Then, as I’ve always said, there are technical mistakes and tactical mistakes—which we’ll work on—but when it comes to attitude and being in the right frame of mind, there are no excuses.”

“I’m very curious about Monday’s match because, up until now, we’ve played friendlies against teams we certainly respect, but we’ve never taken the field against a team that, on paper, is stronger than us. I’ll say it again: on paper, they’re stronger than us, but we’re going there to do what we’ve practiced—our own game—with the utmost respect for Sassuolo. But we’re going in strong, with our chests out, just as we should. Because we work well, because we work hard, and so the guys deserve to approach this match calmly but with confidence. That’s how I see every match: when they work as hard as they do during the week, they need to go into the game with great composure and the desire to achieve something important. That’s what I expect.”

“An adjective I’d like to use to describe my team? Annoying—I’d like us to be an annoying team. One of those teams that forces opponents to say, ‘These guys are annoying! Annoying with the ball, without the ball—intense and combative.” Yes, I’d like my team to be described exactly like that.”

“My relationship with Coach Aquilani? He’s a tremendous player—but I’m not the one saying it. He’s a player of the highest caliber, intelligent on the field, and I’m glad he did so well last year. He’s been given a major opportunity, and he’ll certainly make the most of it. Albi is a friend, a decent person, and he’ll certainly have a great career, because even as a player he’s always been smart. Smart people, if they’re willing to learn and challenge themselves, will definitely go far.”

“How will I feel about the first game? I said it at the first press conference: if I didn’t get excited anymore, I wouldn’t even be here. I get excited for every game. I wake up in the morning and am happy to go to the field; I even get excited just saying hello at practice. That’s who I am—I thrive on enthusiasm and energy. I’m thrilled to start the official matches, and against Sassuolo I’ll be just as fired up as I was against Vis Pesaro or Fossombrone. These are soccer matches, and we have to play them hard, because no match is more important than another—that’s the truth. When you want to build a winning mentality, every match must be approached with the same level of commitment. There’s no such thing as a “friendly” in soccer. We aren’t players who can switch on and off whenever we feel like it—champions can’t do that. We have to know who we are, and we’re a team that has to give it our all in every single match we play.”

The full press conference is available on the YouTube channel of Cesena FC: