Gladiator. The harder the fight gets, the more excited he becomes. Stefano Scognamillo has been fighting for Catanzaro for almost four years. Over 100 games played by the charismatic heart of a team – and of a locker room – which has been living on another planet for a season and a half, thanks to a series of results that were paranormal in C and are also exciting in B.
«The mentality of the coach, who is a winner, has a great impact on us. Vivarini has instilled in us his way of being and thinking and this is also bearing fruit in a different category”, said the defender, among the best on the pitch in the match won 1-0 at Sudtirol: “But my I think the best match was the one against Spezia even if Odogwu (the South Tyrolean striker, ed.) was the strongest we’ve met so far.”
Scognamillo arrived in Catanzaro in January 2020 from Alessandria and now finds himself among the cadets after four years on the lower floor: «The tournament has changed since then, there are many strong teams, equipped in the right way», he underlined. The Eagles are among these also in terms of their play, certainly among the best in the championship, perhaps the best of all.
The toll of the novitiate that was expected on a freshman was not noticed at all: «The category is different and you can see it, but we didn’t have all these difficulties because we always attacked and played our game, while there were colossal opportunities to I don’t think there were any among the opponents if we exclude the match against Parma, an episode”, added the twenty-nine year old. Eighteen points in nine days, third place together with Venezia, the second best attack and the applause received on every pitch are an invitation to look forward, not to be satisfied: «Looking at the table I think ours was an excellent start , but we know well that Serie B is strange, it’s still early to give an overall opinion on everyone, so we have to stay focused and improve. I speak for my role, we have a very important defensive department, but we also need to try not to concede any more stupid goals, we are working to not repeat the same mistakes.”
Scognamillo moved from the position of left “arm” of a three-man defense to that of right-wing center of a four-man line (“Even if it’s a fake four-way line”). He is more involved in the maneuver and has become the second element with the most passes – after Brighenti – of the team who executes more than anyone in Serie B: «Since I am on my natural foot I feel more confident in playing the ball. As for where I’m deployed, I like it and in any case the coach explains perfectly to us what to do, making our task easier.”
Scognamillo has grown a lot with Vivarini, who is a completely different player if you think back to the rude and many-warned defender of his arrival at the “Ceravolo”: «It annoyed me to have the label of a foul and I wanted to take it off, this doesn’t mean that I can’t improve yet.” However, it is difficult for him to find a more beautiful postcard than the 2-1 win at Sampdoria: «Entering that stadium and hearing our fans cheering us on was a crazy feeling. Last year I said that the away match in Pescara would be unparalleled, now I believe that Genoa is unbeatable. Beyond everything – he concluded -, what interests me is the next race with Feralpisalò, a good team despite a subdued start”. The gladiator is ready for a new battle.
News bulletin. Yesterday afternoon the team resumed training in Giovino. Complete group if we exclude the injured Situm (who is following a therapy program) and the two Italians D’Andrea (Under 20) and Ambrosino (Under 21). There was also Krastev, who had to miss out on the Bulgaria call-up due to the flu that stopped him last weekend.