Interview with Mr. Zone: “Now great dedication and desire, in fact a new championship begins”

Press “Start” to resume. For the rossoblù technical leader Massimo Zoni, the wait for the fateful return to the whirlwind of official competition emotions is accompanied by the excitement of the absolute seasonal debut within the historic friendly walls of Stadium Paolo Barison, in the heart of the City of Victory. A moment to be savored doubly, after the first matches of the year in the alternative home location of Colle Umberto e, mostly, at the end of the long pause forced imposed by the evolution of the national pandemic situation.

After over two months of constant (but anything but simple) Costa's field preparation, between individual training and absolute compliance with the health protocols imposed by the regulation, therefore we feel the moods and impressions of the mister delle Tose a little more than 48 hours from the recovery of the match of the 4th day against Le Torri.

What are your feelings before returning to the pitch, 84 days after the transfer to the Orristano field?
In these hours they can only pulsate and get a lot of emotion, excitement and great desire to return to taste the field, in its truest and most competitive dimension. It was not easy to train and maintain high attention and concentration in these two months so special and difficult to manage, for the staff and for the whole society. Now we can really tell, finally it starts again: we hope not to stop between now and the end of the season, clearly following all the rules and monitoring the evolution of the health situation. For our part, the guard will never be let down, the protocols will be respected as always and first of all.

What were the biggest difficulties in managing the field work with the team, in this period of great difficulties and worries ?
Clearly, it is far from simple to find yourself adapting the dynamics of a team sport to a purely individual dimension. Between solo exercises, absence of physical contacts and matches, and with the girls forced not to be able to use the common spaces even off the pitch, it was a challenge for me, for all the staff, for society and especially for the girls themselves. A praise to all of them, always present with a spirit of sacrifice and desire to do, despite any criticality. Mention of merit also to the elements of the Juniores aggregated in this period to the First Team, Also on their part, the attachment to the jersey and the desire to grow were two constant and very important factors.

What do you expect from your team at the debut step in 2021 against Le Torri?
From the girls I expect great dedication and desire, the same one they have shown in these weeks of training, in which it was perceived the desire to be in a group and to return to breathe football all together. Paradossalemente, instead of encouraging, I'll probably have to keep too much impetuousness at bay, so that the expenditure of energy is not excessive compared to the actual athletic performance of the moment. We must not forget that we have been short of ninety minutes for a long time and we lack the physical evidence of a direct confrontation against an opponent of our championship.

Sunday, in fact, inizia un nuovo campionato: how the prospects change with respect to the rest of the season, with the first 3 league commitments already abundantly in the archive?
The new beginning must be above all mental, as the comparisons with respect to previous shifts are reset, but not the points accumulated in the league so far. It seems to us that we must regain awareness, already tested in the former 270 minutes of the competition, that we are a young and largely inexperienced team and just giving the 110% we can look far and get the results we aim for. First of all, performance can never be missing, the determination to experience the match from the first to the last minute, without ever giving up and approaching the game with nails from the very first beats of the game. The result can depend on a thousand uncontrollable variables, but we must do everything in our power, at least to leave the field with his head held high and without regrets.

How it has changed, a personal level, the approach in these first months to your first experience on the bench of a women's First Team?
Last year's experience with the Juniores made the transition to the higher dimension easier in its entirety, in fact I found most of the protagonists who had already lived with me the intense experience in the National Spring Championship. To be changed, basically, is the specific weight of the points and results: with the Under teams the growth of the group is equal to the results and the ranking, while in Serie C the objectives are decidedly stronger, time for experiments is scarce and errors less tolerable. On my part, I live this experience with satisfaction, gratitude and optimism: the human and technical material is of absolute value and there is no lack of prerequisites for building the foundations of an increasingly promising and bright red and blue future.