◎Credit to Bruno Conti from ASRoma-Addict Ok, here’s a thought -- if you had limitless budget, which champion would you buy for Roma? “Messi. I would have given him the ballon d’or, even if I think Ronaldo deserved it because he won the Champions league. And if you win the Champions league, you likely win that award.” After all these years, do you understand the way the ballon d’or is awarded and has there been a year in which you thought you deserved it? “No I don't understand how they do it, but it's not a problem for me. In 2001 I thought I deserved it. I had a great Euro 2000 in the summer before and then in the season with Roma won the scudetto and supercoppa. Michael Owen won it instead, he brought 5 trofies to Liverpool”. Even without you, Vito Scala is back with the azzurri: “Vito is good with everybody, not just me. He’s been one of the architectecs of my recovery. Vito is a friend, a brother, he has always given the best advice, even when I have made mistakes. There are of the moments where you get down, mainly when you are recovery. Footballers are men like everyone else, we have many advantages but also many problems. Fortunately in the delicate times I’ve had wonderful people around me”. But after you were sent off at Livorno, you pushed him to the ground! “I wanted to kill myself. I didn’t want to throw him on the ground, he was the one who slipped (Scala speaks up and confirms: “the fact is that I was wearing my trainers”), I was upset at what happned, I was sent off and it was unjust”. Speaking of friends, Cassano has written in his book that you were the one who wanted him to leave Roma. “As I said before, I don’t have anything to do with the contracts of my teammates. Everyone’s equal for me from this point of view. This is a business. I’m never pleased when a friend leaves, and Anto’ and I had the best friendship … I don't decide these things, the club is there to decide those matters" ... Didn’t Cassano miss a great chance in leaving Roma? “For me, yes. Here he had everything.” Zidane says that Menez has the force of Cassano. “They are two different players. Menez has more speed and less physical strength. He can become the new Messi. He is a player with enormous potential, we speak the same footballing language, he’s only twenty-one, he can become an important international figure”. Menez, Vucinic and Totti can all play together? “Yes. With Menez or me playing in front of the two others”. And you three with Julio Baptista? “With this new formation, no … because Julio does not have the characteristics of Brighi or Perrotta, but with the old 4231 system it’s a possibility; Baptista could play with De Rossi midfield”. De Rossi says that 7 or 8 sides in Europe are stronger than Roma. Do you agree? “Not that many. I say two or three: Barcelona, Manchester and Chelsea”. You don’t place Inter on the list? “Because Inter in Europe have struggled. And it’s strange: Inter have many foreign players, a manager like Mourinho that has the greatest european experience, but nevertheless the results in Champions League haven’t been satisfactory”. When Totti was an up and coming youngster, they said you were the new Roberto Mancini. Have you seen anyone who could be the new Totti? “I still haven’t identified him”. Maybe Messi? “Messi is different from me, he beats his man more but he has less power than I did. He’s also left-footed, and to say another difference, doesn’t play in the same location in the final 3rd of attack.” Who is the most technically gifted teammate you’ve had thus far? “I said Cassano. But also Batistuta, I considered him a great player”. On your regrest, you always had said that you would have wanted to play with Ronaldo (Brasilian). “Yes, with me feeding him assists I think Ronaldo would have scored five hundred goals”. Would you take him now, even though he has signed for the Corinthians? “Yes. At Roma he could find the right stimulation. And it wouldn’t be an expensive transfer”. But it is true you suggest the purchases to the club? “Let me use this moment to clarify something: I don’t impose these things on the club. People have said many times that I didn’t want a central attacker at Roma because I would have lost my place. If things happen on the market, I speak with the society, I give an opinion. If they ask me, mind. And I even contact the potential players, like I did with Mutu. But my opinions are not always accepted. I asked for Torres and Toni, for example. But they say I don’t want a centre forward to arrive at Roma …” Crespo? “In this Roma, where he would play? “With his characteristics, he can’t play in Vucinic’s spot nor Menez ... only mine.” ◎Credit to Bruno Conti from ASRoma-Addict --

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