Lazio striker Ciro Immobile discussed his long career, his hometown, his family and his future in a long interview earlier today.
Speaking to Italian magazine Vanity Fair (via LazioNews24) earlier today, the 31-year-old Italian first spoke about the early stages of his career.
I started to believe in it a little bit more when I won the top scorer title in Serie B with Pescara. But I really believed in it when I was top scorer in Serie A with Torino. What really counts in this game is consistency.
I’ve seen many players, some of them very good, who didn’t have the head for a certain level. My father has always loved football, he could have forced me. He is a great connoisseur, he understood that I had a talent. But he never put pressure on me.
He supported a passion that, although it had been passed on to me by him, was deeply mine. He had the intelligence never to tell me that I was better than others.
He spoke about his hometown, Torre Annunziata.
Mine is a beautiful town, but not an easy one. I saw things that children should not see, I saw friends lose their freedom, or even their lives, because of serious mistakes.
Like what? Drug dealing for example. Many of them made easy money, lots of it, selling things they shouldn’t have sold, or doing things they shouldn’t have done.
Was I tempted? Not as far as I’m concerned. I’ve always tried to have better friends than myself.
Immobile spoke about his wife Jessica and his three children.
We have three children and I always get home after them. For me it’s the five minutes at the end of the day. I would like my wife to give me a little more time.
A month after we got engaged, I broke up with her because I wanted to see if she was really the one. You know, I had never been seriously with a girl before. After a week it was clear to me that yes, she was the one.
Three kids? We agreed on that right away. We have some financial stability, a lot of love to give. Why shouldn’t we have them?
Other family types? If you have to give love to another person, or a child, it’s right to be able to do so. We shouldn’t even talk about different families.
The 31-year-old Italian striker spoke about the issue of violence in sport.
Football is the most important sport in Italy. I’ll tell you, maybe it’s given too much importance. In the end it’s a game.
Maybe too much passion, too much love for a team leads to do unjustifiable things. I can’t give any other explanation, it is pure madness to kill for a game of football.
He discussed his records and what the future holds.
As far as personal records are concerned, I’d say I’m in good shape.
Now I’d like to win something important as a team, and also with the national team.
Finally, Immobile spoke about the upcoming Euro 2020 competition.
I’m optimistic. In such short competitions what counts is to be a united group, we are.
Are Italians in love with the national team? I want to believe so. I hope it’s also thanks to me. This should be the goal of a player, to give emotions.
The 31-year-old Immobile, who is contracted to the Biancocelesti until 2025, made 41 appearances across all competitions this season for the Roman club, for a total of 3299 minutes.
In that time, he scored 25 goals and provided eight assists, being one of the top stars of Simone Inzaghi’s squad. Despite the Italian coach’s departure, he will surely remain a focal point of Maurizio Sarri’s squad too.
MORE: Sarri Has Signed a Two-Year Contract With Lazio, Official Announcement Later Today
MORE: Video: Lazio’s Ciro Immobile Suffers an Injury Scare During Training With the Italian National Team
