Strong in Turin, but:
Why are you out at the ÖFB, Valentino Lazaro?
He has played 36 international matches so far and scored three goals, making his debut on 30 May 2014 under Marcel Koller at the age of just over 18 - but as early and as full of expectation as Valentino Lazaro's national team career may have started, the now FC Torino international no longer seems to be in demand with the ÖFB team! On the question of why this is the case, our Italy legionnaire doesn't make a murder pit out of his heart in the krone.at interview ...
krone.at: Valentino, as a seven-time champion in Italy, your club is number 5 ex aequo behind Juventus, Inter, Milan and Genoa, if you go by "Scudetti", but since winning the championship in 1975/76 and a Coppa triumph in 1992/93, success has always taken a bigger turn around FC Torino. Does the club still believe it will ever win anything again?
Valentino Lazaro: Of course, otherwise we might as well stop playing soccer! Of course, we know the history of our club, you internalize that here. Everyone knows what happened in the past - and we simply want to carry on this tradition. We really work every day in the knowledge that we are allowed to represent this great club. The new coach has also internalized this very, very quickly and wants to pass it on to us before every game, before every training session: that we have the mentality to take the club back to where it once was.
krone.at: Have you set yourselves a specific target for this year, for example in the form of a certain placing or number of points? Finishing ahead of city rivals Juve is perhaps a bit of a lofty goal, but still ...
Lazaro: Why not? We believe in our chances and are already looking forward to the derby! But in general, we haven't set ourselves a specific target. We talked a lot about Europe last year and then recklessly gave it away again towards the end of the season. Personally, I'll definitely take that on board: Europe is our goal and I think we have the potential for it in the team. However, as I said earlier, the season has only just begun and unfortunately we recently lost our captain, our top striker who also scores the most goals, with a cruciate ligament rupture. But we're just moving even closer together, continuing to go full throttle and looking from game to game, as they say in good German ... (laughs)... We just make sure that we always get the best possible result.
"We talked a lot about Europe last year and then recklessly gave it away again towards the end of the season. Personally, I'm definitely taking that on board: Europe is our goal!"
Valentino Lazaro
krone.at: And as far as personal goals are concerned? Is there anything you've set yourself?
Lazaro: As a player, you come back after every vacation and have a few thoughts, you set yourself a few goals. For me, I wanted to get back into the starting line-up. I'm in my third year here and there are a lot of new players who have been here for less time than me - so of course I'm slowly taking on a leadership role and I want to show that on the pitch. That's why I'm doing everything I can to make sure I don't give up my regular place. I also want to be more dangerous in front of goal again and slowly score my first goal.
krone.at: Your new coach Paolo Vanoli mainly played on the flanks during his playing days, even scoring a goal in the 1998/99 UEFA Cup final for Parma. How does Vanoli's past in the flank positions affect your present in the same positions? Does he give you special instructions?
Lazaro: Very, definitely! I notice it in every training session and also have lots and lots of conversations with him. He's a bit like Antonio Conte in terms of his obsession with details, which is no wonder because he was also part of Conte's coaching team when I was at Inter Milan. I worked well with him back then - and I do again now, I have a very good relationship with him. He always tries to help me: firstly, that I bring the best for the team and secondly, of course, for me personally, that I find myself in better positions because he has the expertise and experience.
krone.at: There are players who can be used in just one position - and there are universal players like you. Do you see it as a curse or a blessing to be so flexible?
Lazaro: It's partly both! In recent years, I've always wanted to have a fixed position because it makes it easier. If you're a bit of a "floater", you've played five or six games and then you've sat on the bench again for two or three games. And that wasn't the goal! I know I can play both wing positions - it doesn't matter to me whether I play on the right or the left. And I think the coach knows that too: he's already used me on the left four or five times this season and then two or three times on the right. He knows that I perform well in both positions and can switch quickly. That's why I'm pleased that he has confidence in me and I'm also pleased that I've been able to start in all the games so far.
krone.at: Let's take a little quiz: Which Austrians have already played for FC Torino here in Turin? Which ones do you know?
Lazaro : (laughs) I know Toni Polster, of course! He wished me good luck via Instagram when I came to Turin. With the history of this club and the fact that players like Toni Polster have already been here, it's something very special.
"You can see lots and lots of old photos in the catacombs. And that's where I discovered Toni Polster. And "Schoko" Schachner too ..."
Valentino Lazaro
krone.at: Any other Austrians you don't know?
Lazaro : "Schneckerl" was there too, wasn't he?
krone.at: No, the generation does fit, but no ...
Lazaro: The generation fits?
krone.at: The "Sch" fits, but not "Schneckerl", but "Schoko" ...
Lazaro: "Schoko" Schachner, sorry! (laughs)
krone.at: Jürgen Säumel was the last Austrian before you here at FC Torino. But there are a few more who you probably don't know: Heinrich Schönfeld, Karl Stürmer, Anton Cargnelli ...
Lazaro: Karl Stürmer tells me something else ...
krone.at: Do people here still remember the Austrians? If I were to ask the press people: Do they still remember a Toni Polster or a "Schoko" Schachner?
Lazaro: (grins) They should! As I said, Torino is such a club steeped in tradition and you can see lots and lots of old photos in the catacombs. And I've also spotted Toni Polster there. And "Schoko" Schachner too ... (laughs)...
krone.at: At the age of 28, you have played 36 international matches so far and scored three goals, making your debut on May 30, 2014 under Marcel Koller - since the end of the Franco Foda era and also currently under team boss Ralf Rangnick, you no longer seem to play a role, to be out. Why does it seem that your type is simply no longer in demand?
Lazaro: You have to ask other people that ... (smiles a little pained)... I really don't know myself ...
krone.at: How do people communicate with you in that regard?
Lazaro : That's what makes me the saddest after so many years in the national team: that I didn't get a phone call or a message from the ÖFB, but really learned from the media every time that I wasn't there. I don't even think I've been on call recently. That's something that really hurts after eight years of proudly representing a country ...
krone.at: Now you could say that during your time at Inter, when you were loaned out again and again, you might have lacked the flow of the game, the match practice - but in the meantime you are very settled again at Torino ...
Lazaro: Exactly! Even during my loan spells, there was always a healthy exchange, like: "Now you haven't played for the last few weeks", or "Now you've played again. We're delighted that you're coming back". After so many years of being part of the national team, it would be nice to at least get a phone call. Even if all you hear is: "You're no longer with us" or "It's not going to happen any time soon, let's look to the future". Frankly, I think that's a great pity. It also hurt a lot back then under Marcel Koller when I was dropped from the squad ahead of EURO 2016 after I would have been involved in the qualifiers and the last training camp ...
"After so many years of being a permanent part of the national team, it would be nice to at least get a call-up."
Valentino Lazaro
krone.at: Then you were kicked out at the last cut ...
Lazaro : Exactly, at the last cut! Then I was so happy to give everything for the next EURO, I played all the games in the qualifiers, scored two goals and set up one or two and was an integral part of the team. Then, after five years - everything was postponed by a year because of Covid - the EURO comes around and then you're practically just sitting on the bench for the whole tournament. That hurt me a bit under Franco Foda.
krone.at: After that, things continued with Ralf Rangnick ...
Lazaro: When a new coach comes in, who of course also has new ideas, it's a shame if you never train in your actual position in the first training session. And then you're told the day before the game in Denmark that you're playing in your position, but with a completely new team, with a completely new game idea - against a very, very strong opponent. And then you're substituted after 45 minutes and then not called up again without a word - that's very, very tough. But as I said, I'm still going full throttle and I hope that one day I'll get the chance to show that I belong in this team ...
krone.at: Is there anything you could blame yourself for personally? Did you once fail to greet the team boss or the sports director? Or stood in the wrong parking lot?
Lazaro: (laughs) No, none of those things. I respect everyone at the ÖFB as always, I come to every training session with a smile and try to do my best. Of course there are days when you play better, when you play worse or when things don't work out - that's business. As I said, communication would have been something that would have pleased me - but I don't hold grudges either. I hope that I can show my performance here and that, God knows, maybe the chance will come again that I can wear the eagle on my chest, that I can show: Hey, I belong here!
"I hope that I can show my performance here and that, God knows, maybe the chance will come again that I can wear the eagle on my chest ..."
Valentino Lazaro
krone.at: So it's not just the Turin Bull on your chest - or let's say Turin Bull. Although with your Salzburg past, the bull is also a good keyword: It probably can't be said that you're fundamentally unsuited to Rangnick soccer, can it?
Lazaro: Not necessarily! I practiced this Red Bull school for years, it's in me. And when you gain so much experience in so many clubs, you also learn to adapt. In other words, if something else was needed now, I'm pretty sure I could bring it in. As I said, I'd be delighted if I got that chance again at some point ...
krone.at: How do you feel about the fact that you can currently only watch via TV when Austria play at international level, such as in the summer at the European Football Championship or these days in the Nations League against Kazakhstan or Norway?
Lazaro: First and foremost, I'm the number 1 fan when I'm not there! I watch every game and hope that we get good results. It's not like I'm sitting there angry and thinking to myself: "I hope they play badly now!" (laughs) It's not like that! The national team and the country are the priority, that's clear. But of course, as a footballer, your heart hurts a little when you can't be there when you know you have the quality. After matches here in Italy, I'm often asked by media representatives why I'm not in the Austrian national team, because they don't understand. And I don't have an answer to that ... (thinks for a moment) I just have to keep going and hope that one day I'll get a call again. That would make me very, very happy!
krone.at: So there's no thought that a completely different personnel constellation would be needed to perhaps get back there?Lazaro: Not from my side at all!
This article has been automatically translated,
read the original article here.
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