Matteo Gabbia, AC Milan Primavera product who debuted yesterday against Venezia in Serie A win 2-0, entrusted Cronache di Spogliatoio with the following words in a long interview, relayed by Milannews.it:
"My days at the San Siro as a fan? It was a fantastic emotion to be able to enter the stadium when I was little, it was my dream to live the game as a fan with my grandparents and my cousin. It was special, I will always carry it in my memories. I don't have a match that I remember because I was really very young, but there are several moments imprinted in my mind: the thing that thrilled me so much every time was when you passed the turnstiles, started to enter the stadium and saw the pitch. You started to smell that smell of grass from the field, it was something fantastic and unique."
The first game you remember?
"It was a Milan-Fiorentina where AC Milan won with several goals, and I remember it because the Fiorentina fans threw eggs against the bus with which my grandparents and I went to the stadium, it's a memory that has little to do with the game. I was very small and this thing at the time also made me smile. It was a nice thing."
First Milan shirt?
"I still keep the first shirt as a child at home, for me it is like an heirloom. I am very fond of it: my parents gave it to me, it was a Shevchenko shirt. Whenever it was clean or not, too dirty, I would put it to play in the courtyard of my house. It is always nice to wear the Milan shirt. It was given to me for my birthday. I was happy, maybe unlike other children who wanted a video game, that shirt made me very happy."
Did you go to the stadium with your grandparents often?
"With my grandparents I remember the pre-game, when we played in the evening and therefore my cousin and I would meet first at my grandparents' house and ate a toast, then the bus would arrive at the intersection and go to San Siro. It was something wonderful, those were different times: children could enter much more easily, the stadium was always full and Milan were among the greatest teams in the world. It was a dream to be able to go to the stadium and experience such a beautiful thing with your family."
Which success does Gabbia remember most?
"I remember the 2007 final well, luckily I remember less than the one in Istanbul two years before because I was little, I was only six years old. The one in Athens I remember very well: we were at home and we all saw the match together and it was really very exciting. It was a rematch of the other final, it was good. We hope that these moments can return as soon as possible."
You grew up in the Milan world, what does it mean for a boy to grow up here and play with this shirt?
"I think that for a boy, especially very young as I could have been at the age of 14, growing up in Milan is both a dream and a responsibility. It is necessary to have the intelligence to understand that every day must be deserved to be in such a glorious and prestigious club.I hope my growth can continue in the best possible way, with this jersey always on and I hope it can be as long and rosy as possible."
Anecdote about your first call-up?
"Here at Milan there is a guy that we all call Rambo, he's security. He is very nice and very good, he is very funny. But he always puts you in a bit of awe: it was my first match with the First Team, I had been called up and I was very shy, I didn't know how to deal with the people next to me. The meeting begins to then leave and go to the stadium, I show up 20 minutes earlier. He looks at me and says to me: “Who are you, what are you doing here? You can't get on the bus' I'm worried and I answer him: 'Look, today I'm called-up' and he says:" No, don't worry, I was joking. Today you can go.' (laughs). At that moment there he put me in an incredible embarrassment, but now I have a very good relationship. He has also helped me a lot in this last period in which I am here with more continuity."
On moments with teammates and the coach:
"I have so many moments that I carry with me, which certainly helped me in the moments when I played both more and less. I met many people, Borini, Biglia, Kjaer, Romagnoli, Calabria… Many players who in many moments helped me, gave me advice, told me how to deal with a given situation. I think the group in this team is something fantastic."
You started as a midfielder. But now, you are a centre-back...
"It was a very useful thing, but I don't deny that I had some difficulties. I was a boy and accepting the fact of changing roles, from a midfielder that I liked a lot, to a defender was not easy. I've had moments when maybe I wasn't sure, in fact some coaches from the Youth Sector encouraged me a lot to change roles. With Filippo Galli, I may have argued many times saying that I did not like it and I was not convinced, but he has always believed in me and told me: 'Look, I think this is your future'. That was it, he was right. It certainly helped me a lot to understand certain game situations and to speed me up from a technical point of view."
Gabbia, what do you remember from your debut?
"It was a day where I had a lot of hope, I was very hopeful. I understood that there was the possibility of doing the first few minutes in the First Team and therefore I was ecstatic. I remember that at the end of the first half Locatelli, who was playing in front of the defense, told me: 'Matteo, be ready because another 15-20 and then I'll go out'. At that moment I knew that I would have my chance. When I entered the field it was beautiful, a dream that came true. Obviously I would have liked to have made the first debut at San Siro but then I was happy that it came later. At that moment, there I was a bit sorry because you don't know what could happen, but it was a fantastic moment. Immediately after the game I called my parents, I showed them that I was happy and that I had achieved my dream."
Is it true that your grandmother had to stop watching the game because of the excitement?
"Yes, she told me after the game when I got home, she was still awake and told me she couldn't sleep. I sat there and told her to be calm and that everything was fine."
On the selfie at Old Trafford in front of Ibra's shirt:
"We went to Old Trafford with the U18 national team to make two friendlies in England. We played the first friendly match, and after that the national team manager, who was Nicolato, told us that we were going to pay a visit to Old Trafford. When we went to the locker room all of us guys took pictures with the jerseys, I remember that I had done it with Zlatan's shirt because he had played for Milan and because he is an iconic player anyway, a champion. And I put it on Instagram after the match against Cagliari, before and after, while we were hugging. He replied to the story by saying 'Top, you are great', or something like that."
What relationship do you have with your defensive teammates:
"We have a great relationship. We are three young guys like me, Tomori and Alessio plus Simon who is an experienced guy. We love each other, there is competition and we always train well. We talk to each other and give each other advice. Simon often gives me some advice on positioning when we play matches having a lot of experience but they are really a good group of central defenders and I'm happy to be part of them. We hope that this season, from a defensive point of view, will make us stand out."
Did you have an idol in Milan when you were a boy?
"My idol was Maldini. I also loved Thiago Silva, Gattuso, and Inzaghi. That was a very strong team. Meeting Maldini was exciting and also seeing him now gives me very pleasant emotions."
What was the best and most difficult moment in the youth sector?
"The best moment is when I arrived", says Gabbia, "It was a dream come true. I did the first two workouts where I looked at all the training clothes, which I bought just a year earlier. Living the daily life of Vismara was wonderful. The most difficult moment was the loan in Serie C which makes you understand that the first team must be deserved and that you have to live certain difficulties that I was lucky to experience with hindsight. Today I am in the team that I support."
