Nelson Dida, historic goalkeeper of Milan and former goalkeeper coach of the Rossoneri team, is among the top guests at the inauguration, which took place today, of the Milan Cup, the traditional Rossoneri youth tournament that this year too, for the third in a row, stops in Cattolica.
The Brazilian then gave the following statements to the microphones of MilanNews.it:
Milan Cup 2025 with many children present.
"It's a beautiful initiative. I see desire, will, enthusiasm in the children. Milan is doing a wonderful job with these kids."
When did you realize you could be a goalkeeper?
"A bit late… I was 10-11 years old. My brothers said I wasn’t good as a striker, so I played in goal. Then I grew there. But I’ll tell the truth: I wasn’t deeply in love with that role."
What advice do you give to the younger ones?
"Work: with a lot of desire, a lot of passion. If you don’t commit yourself, you will never manage to achieve anything."
What are the prospects for your role? Dida replied:
"Artificial intelligence is helping. Even in a team sport, you work individually. The coach works with each one. There are new types of training that help players more and more."
How did you see Mike Maignan?
"Mike, when he arrived, had an incredible desire to win with Milan. He makes many beautiful saves. When he came to Milan, he didn’t know how to use his feet very well. We worked a lot on the possession phase and now I’m very happy with the work we’ve done. You can see that he can still grow."
What impression did it give you to see Mike Maignna as captain? Dida commented:
"A beautiful impression. He commands: he commanded even without the armband, now he commands even more. Now, he has this responsibility and it’s something that suits him. He has great experience."
