Rossonero since he was 11 years old: often on the bench in the youth teams. Now he wants to make up for the Super Cup and certain words …
Davide Calabria has spent over half of his life as a Rossoneri player: he turned twenty-six in December, fifteen celebrated with the Milan shirt. He experienced his first derby on 3 September 2015, from the bench: 2304 days ago. He played 13 in total: 4 wins, 4 draws, 5 defeats (the last one in the Super Cup), an assist for Giroud, a yellow card, a middle finger (we are in 2020: Ibra’s brace decides, in the embrace of group David raises his arm and “greets”). In the meantime he has reached 200 Rossoneri appearances, considering all competitions: he is the first player in the current squad to cross the finish line.
Out of loyalty to Milan, he tied the captain’s armband to his arm: last Sunday, after the Sassuolo five, he went under the Curva Sud with his hands raised to apologize to the fans: “I’m one of them”. There are many other examples of Milanism, a definition that Calabria himself explained in recent days in an interview with Dazn: “The Milanist is the one who puts the team before himself and gives everything for this shirt”. Davide remembers when his parents accompanied him as a child to the big games at San Siro. He moved from Brescia to Milan when he was a Primavera player and struggled to keep up the pace of sport and study. He was a small boy, the last right full-back he served as a reserve was Stefan Simic, 1 meter and 89, today at Hajduk Split. However, it is Davide Calabria who is able to fill the Instagram profile with photos with the Milan shirt. Today’s one has the shield sewn on his chest, the first one for him was that of the Esordienti.
NO ROMANCE
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The next one will be the one to wear in the derby on Sunday evening, when romance won’t help. Pioli, the Rossoneri coach, asked the opposite of him: lucidity, cynicism, combativeness. Calabria is a captain who has to find his way back after ending up in the rough seas of the last few weeks. Against Sassuolo he too sunk, overwhelmed by Laurienté: penalty and yellow card. Then the apologies at San Siro. Destiny offers an opportunity for redemption in the derby: “This week is incredible. There are strong emotions. We just want to win and with the adrenaline that creates some disagreements it’s normal”. In the Milan locker room, of which Calabria is the first to have the keys, the Inter celebrations after the Super Cup went sideways, the words of the opponents and in particular those of Calhanoglu, full of revenge. In those days in Riad Calabria he had confessed to other wishes which, look at that, have to do with Milan: “I’ve been a Rossoneri for a lifetime and I hope I can finish my career here. It’s absurd to believe we are satisfied after a Scudetto, we want to to win again precisely because now we know what it feels like. I dream of being the captain who lifts a trophy.” Davide has won twice: in 2016 he was in the squad when Milan lifted his last Supercoppa Italiana, but not even for a minute on the pitch. And he was one of the architects of the Scudetto success, then leaving Romagnoli the honor of the front row on the stage of the celebrations. Today, at 26 and in his ninth season in the first team, he wants to be great among the greats.
MAGIA DA DERBY
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To make his last wish come true, he must have patience, the same as when he was a boy waiting for his turn on the bench. Today’s Milan can no longer add the Italian Cup and Super Cup to the showcase, the second star remains at an astronomical distance, the Champions League is a club reserved for other great European clubs. But the derby has its own magic, victories are counted almost as if they were trophies. For Calabria he is the fifth with the arm band. As captain, Davide does much more: after the draw in Lecce (his decisive goal for the comeback) he spoke to the team. He had presented the Super Cup challenge sitting next to Pioli; in the game, once called to the bench, he had covered his face to hide the tears. On Sunday he went under the curve to represent the group. Here he will want to return with another spirit, as the captain who leads the team to the party.
February 3 – 07:55
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