Gianni de Biasi: Success in football can change the image of Kosovo

2023-12-21 14:17:00, Sport CNA

Dear Rector of Universum College,

Dear professors, dear students,

Dear colleagues, players, friends present,

Good morning and thank you..

I am very honored to be here among you on the occasion of this ceremony that will see me honored with the Second Diploma of Honor, the first diploma in Kosovo.

Kosovo is a young and dynamic state. To build a house, you need to take care of the foundations and the quality of the materials, so that it lasts over time. With these assumptions and thanks to the help of friends and relatives and the active diaspora, you have been careful to build a more functional and modern Kosovo. That is why I am very happy and enthusiastic to be here at a dynamic University, one of the largest in the region, which cares a lot about quality and the education of all young generations. I know you have a world-renowned Finnish high school, a sign of your investment in a quality future for your young people. Affiliation with the University of Arizona is a necessary certificate of success.

International recognition can also come through success in the world of sports, and football is one of the most important. Integration in the international community can also be promoted and improved thanks to the successes of football at the international level. But it also helps increase national pride.

I once said that in front of the academics I feel similar emotions, if not stronger than those I felt in the past at Camp Nou, in Barcelona, ??when in front of me and my team was Messi Eto'o Ronaldinho, Xavi and Iniesta.

Those who follow sports know the dynamics that drive individual and team sports, the difficulties in bringing together athletes with strong technical qualities, but with different personalities, characters and interests. Sometimes problems arise from aspects that are often given little consideration. Among these, first of all, envy and jealousy are sometimes the main causes of the failures of well-known teams, with very quality players, but who struggle to "join".

TEAM SPIRIT, which the media often praises less than the "skill" of individuals, is the glue that allows you to make a team a winning team!

Today, sport uses many tools and science, works with groups of specialists, in physiology, psychology and always with greater attention to physical preparation.

I am a pragmatic person and I have tried to put into practice what scientists study.

I want to tell you briefly why I have succeeded several times. Because I managed to win in difficult situations.

When I arrived in Modena, the team had been in Serie C for years, the third Italian championship, a place disillusioned by years of failures, and the big investments did not correspond to the desired results.

I decided to change the strategy and focus on new, unknown players eager to get involved.

Within two years we won Serie C and the following year Serie B and found ourselves in Serie A amid general surprise.

What were the dominant factors of this triumphant journey?

First, having faith in players of excellent quality but little known (scouting), a technical project that was based on a fast and aggressive game (organization), compactness of the group (separation), team spirit.

I coached Albania and together we achieved a historic result: France's first qualification for the European Championship.

I coached Azerbaijan, a team from a nation known for success in individual sports, not team sports. We achieved a historic result, in a group where even a quality team like Italy would have had a difficult journey,

Based on my thirty years of experience, these are the basic concepts on which my work is based:

1) ORGANIZATION

2) COOPERATION

3) OPTIMIZATION OF TIMES

4) TEAM SPIRIT

Discussing with my Albanian friends about the importance of talent in different sectors, some of them reminded me of the verses of a great British poet who visited Albania in the 19th century, Lord Byron.

I'm trying to tell them Albanian because I think they do. better meaning:

Strict sons of Albania! Yes properties

They don't miss them; if only they had reached me

With the Albanian national team, I had the opportunity to work with many Kosovar players, who were the pillars of my team, from Loriku, Mergimi, Etrit Berisha, Samir Ujkani, Berat Gjmsiti, Taulant Xhaka, Kukeli, Abrashi, Rrahmani, etc. all footballers who were born or had life experiences in the West before those of Albanian players. Also for this reason they had a mentality much closer to the European one. Kosovo, in the past, could benefit from a football school like the Yugoslav one, which contributed to the growth of the whole movement, but which also brought prestige thanks to the talent of football players like Fadil Vokrri. Today, Kosovo has a large number of players who play all over Europe, and stands out for its interesting talents, which I follow closely, from Zhegrova, Rashica, Muriqi, Rrahmani, etc.

Likewise Albanian players have always been of excellent quality, in fact I believe that in the past years Albania has had a very strong group of players, maybe something was missing to ensure that a group of good players become a good team. .. I believe that I brought them together, made them a team, a group of individuals. Because I believe that one of the boundaries, if I may define it that way, was to think of one's own personal interests before those of the team, to put the pronoun "I" before the most attractive "we"...

I play - we play, we do - we do, we win - we win

I have heard a tale that comes from the countries of the Far East, where I have a laboratory...

Once an old man was planting a fruit tree. Some young men mocked and jeered at him and said, "Why are you doing this?" Are you tired; You are too old to eat the fruit of the tree you are planting."

The old man answered them: "I ate the fruit of the trees planted by my ancestors." Now I also plant them so that you young people can eat the fruits."

This is the universal law of life.

In fact, this is also the law of football, where coaches come and go and so do the players. However, nothing of value should be lost.

I believe that I have left a modest contribution for the Albanian national team. Someone said that I am the founder of the modern school of Albanian football.

I don't know how true this is, history will tell.

Fortunately, I am not that old yet, I have the strength and ideas to plant other trees like those planted in Albania.

Dear students, respected professors, authorities

one of the slogans that accompanied my life was this:

BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF YOUR DREAMS AND THEY WILL BECOME A REALITY!

I thought that the many young people living in this country can also cherish their dreams and that they can find a path that allows them to have a better life.

Nothing is given to you, with rare exceptions, every day we have to put ourselves out there trying to nurture the talents that each of us has within us.

To be honest, I don't want to sound pathetic if I say that I owe this recognition above all to the great work and dedication of my players, who believed that by working together they could realize their dream!

Thank you for the honor...

Thank you for your attention