BOLOGNA, July 26, 2002 – Pagliuca, have you read what Gianni Morandi says
about your Bologna?

“Yes, and I agree with him. I never would have expected so much enthusiasm and so many people at the stadium. It was exciting to play in front of 14,000 fans. Many of them preferred us to the beach, and that's got to get us thinking.”

Well, what is your first thought?

“That Bologna has forgotten that blasted Sunday at Brescia and understood the huge disappointment we felt.”

Doesn’t Dall’Ara stadium, sometimes so angry at the team, make you think very different things?

“Yes, that Bologna is hungry for good soccer, and wants to create around us and with us another season to remember.”

That’s nice at a time when the soccer ball seems so often to be missing air, and mired in accounts that have gone into the red...

“Bologna becomes a happy island if you can give it hard work, sacrifices, and sweat. When this city, my city, realizes that you are trying to give it joy, it knows to support you, never to abandon you, not even after the bitter finale of last year.”

It’s as if the world was turned upside down: the anger of last summer has turned into the great embrace of last Saturday.

“Which confirms what I said before, that Bologna can tell when you fulfill your duty to the end versus when you end up losing your way. It’s useless to hide the fact that not all was going well two seasons ago.”

Bologna is with you, that’s for sure, but now you must cultivate and feed that affection.

“That’s true, and we must start this Saturday in Belorussia. The match that awaits us there will be more complicated than you would think after 2-0 in the first leg. We can pay dearly if we feel too sure of passing the round already and start thinking about Teplice or Kaiserslautern. The team that thinks it has already qualified is lost. It’s true that we have a nice advantage, but if we let in a quick goal, they will be encouraged and we can lose.”

I have the impression that you think all depends only on your team, or mostly on your team.

“We must go to Borisov with a singular purpose: to score a goal. And we must score at least one goal at all costs. Believe me, it would be wrong to just fall back on defense.”

You’ll need the same spirit as in the first leg.

“That’s the secret. On this, too, Gianni Morandi is right: with the right spirit, you can climb the highest mountain; if you are too happy with yourself you stall as soon as the road starts going up.”

Guidolin is saying that this is not the beginning of a new season, but a continuation of the last one.

“It is as if we were playing out injury time from last year. Intertoto gives us a chance to recapture what we had lost at Brescia two months ago, and even if the world falls down around us, we must not let it go a second time.”

Because Bologna really deserved UEFA.

“If we get into it, it will be a sort of justice. Because it shouldn’t be possible to have 52 points in a season and not play in a European competition that counts.”

Now you can say it: the day before Brescia, Bologna was sure it would get into UEFA at the least.

“I won’t say we were 100% sure, but close. To think that Inter lost the scudetto at Rome, playing against Lazio, a team we had beaten the week before.”

You can’t just blame Inter for Bologna’s failure to get into UEFA.

“No, it was also our fault. Let’s say we were about to go down, and Inter gave us the last push.”

What can Pagliuca still give to Bologna?

“So much, really. Because I’m still hungry for victories, and I don’t feel old at all. I want to amaze the fans, Beppe (Signori) wants to amaze the fans, we all want to amaze here. This is my credo, our credo. Don’t live in your memories, you must always live in the present and think about the future. The one who wants to live on rent from what he’s done in the past, has not understood anything.”

Do you still enjoy soccer?

“I’m still crazy about it, it gives me unique and marvelous experiences. But then it’s also true that it’s not the same as in my times at Sampdoria or Inter. We should have come to this downsizing before, instead of only now that soccer is in trouble.”

What do you think about the player exchanges between Milan and Inter?

“It’s not a good idea. I can tell you that after having played for Inter, I would never have gone to Milan.”

Who is Bologna’s Rivaldo?

“Could be Beppe, when he is at 100%.”

Which team in Serie A looks best to you?

“I don’t like saying this, being from Bologna, but it’s Modena. It has the means to become a new Chievo.”

Translation: your friend Balotta will beat you in the standings?

“That is just your inference. Think what you will, I believe in this Bologna.”