Mario Situm is good to have with you. He didn’t bat an eyelid when the rupture of the collateral in his left knee suffered against Parma stopped him for almost two months. He is not upset now that Catanzaro has to manage three defeats in a row. Super Mario is back and it is certain that Catanzaro will come out of the bad period.
The derby is the opportunity to achieve this: «It’s an important match, our fans are wonderful even away from home and we have the obligation to thank them in the best way». Cosenza is an ex for him who in Calabria wore the shirts of the three big names (Reggina before the Bruzi) and is now Giallorossi for the second season in a row: «I feel good here, it’s a family environment and my family lives there well, it’s like a second home. The fans are warmer, I care a lot about them and my friends, which is why I will give everything for this shirt and even something more in the derby, we know well what it means for our people.”
The 31-year-old is one of those who has to drive and guide the younger ones: «Above all, we expert footballers know how football works, no one thought of starting so strong and also reaching second place, nor of losing three in a row. To improve, everyone must raise their personal level, but we are taking care of the details and we have already seen something. I’m confident, Serie B is long and the teams that play, like we do, always come out, so I’m sure we’ll arrive in a comfortable position.”
Mario missed six games, from the sixth to the twelfth, then returned in almost record time to start in Venice. At “Penzo” he immediately became what he was before, that is, a full-back who also becomes a winger or midfielder: «It’s not a problem to move as the coach asks me to, then in a team that plays like Catanzaro I feel great. I recovered quickly and for this I thank the medical staff and the physiotherapists Bruno and Felisiano (Berardocco and Villani, ed.), I worked three times a day between swimming pool, therapy and gym and when I returned to the pitch I felt good. The knee – he explained – had come out and returned, by nature I’m positive but in this case I was worried because I thought everything had broken, luckily it was only the collateral.”
His physical skills helped him, faith in God did the rest: «It is the most important thing, without her we are empty, material things give happiness for a few days, faith makes us grow, staying humble and gives confidence for move forward, I always rely on God in difficult moments.”
Catanzaro’s moment is also difficult: «But we have a lot of room for improvement and a coach who knows a lot. In C we were also too superior to our opponents, now we have to be dirtier, meaner, aggressive, strong on man. It’s clear that the negative results don’t leave us happy, due to episodes and individual errors we lost three games in a row, but in the locker room we are calm because the game is there and always has been.” And with Situm he has an extra point of reference to break through.
