World Soccer: Fiorentina coach Giovanni Trapattoni has convinced you to stay until 2003, so you must be happy with the club and coach?
Gabriel Batistuta: True. But it took Trapattoni's arrival here to convince me. He's a fantastic man, a real winner. He's got great charisma and when he talks about the game and his ideas you understand immediately what he wants. I rate him very highly as a man as a coach.

WS: But aren't you a winner, too?
GB: I always want to win - even when I'm playing cards with my wife.

WS: The strike partnership of Batistuta and Edmundo, according to the fans, is the best in the game. What is the secret of your success?
GB: There's no secret, it's just that we weren't born yesterday -- there are things we understand about the game and can put into practice together. It's taken us to the top of Serie A, though not all the media appreciate our success. Still, that's their problem if they want to talk and and write about other clubs. The fact remains, no one is doing better than we are right now.

WS: Are you angry at the lack of recognition?
GB: No. I've grown used to it here. When I go out to play one of my aims is to upset the people who always write us off. The fact that we're not given enough credit just acts as an extra stimulus. I was furious, for example, after the game against Salernitana when I scored one of the finest goals of my career, with the outside of my right foot, and everyone - outside Florence, obviously - ignored it. It's no surprise to me that we're just considered temporary high-flyers this season.

WS: So, how good is this Fiorentina side?
GB: We are a strong team who are doing well because we have learned to believe in our ability ad potential. Getting to the top of the table was not so hard - but staying there ist he toughest challenge. It will take a lot of hard work. Not that this worries me. Trapattoni knows better than any other coach how to deal with this particular challenge. Anyway, I always thought - right from the very start of the season - that we would win the championship.

WS: How would you describe yourself as a player?
GB: Someone who never gives up the fight, who never tires of scoring goals and will never be satisfied with what he has achieved. For example, I never waste time thinking over the goals, I have scored or the records I have set. What's important for me is the next goal I score, the next record. I always want to improve.

WS: Yet you are the top scoring foreigner in Serie A, with more than 120 goals - and you scored in 11 games ina row in 1994-95. Don't you covet your records?
GB: Records only serve one purpose - to get up your critics' noses.

WS: Can you still get better as a player?
GB: Of course. That's what I'm working at. For example, I need to improve my left-foot shot. I train with that in mind. But do not misundertand me. Many forwards are selfish, egoists. But I have always deliberately chosen to work for my team - whether it's Fiorentina or Argentina. I don't mind who has the starring role, whether it's Toldo or Oliveira.

WS: Do you think it's an anusual championship this season?
GB: Why, just because Juventus aren't top? Have a look at the qualities of Roma, of Parma, of Fiorentina. You wouldn't say it was an 'unusual' championship then.

WS: How did you feel about Fiorentina being expelled from the UEFA Cup?
GB: An incredible injustice. Like being sent to prison for a crime you didn't commit.

WS: You have been enquiring into your family history for citizenship reasons. What progress have you made?
GB: It's going well. I've found a Domenico Batistuta - he became Domingo Batistuta in Argentina - who sailed to Argentina with his wife, Maria Zorzon. But all the documentation was sent on another ship, which sank. Anyway, in Argentina they had a son, Francisco, my grandfather, who had two sons of his own, Malchio and Omar, my father. Hopefully, I'll soon get all the proper documents together.

WS: Do you like the idea of becoming an italian citizen one day?
GB: To be honest, after eight years in this country, I feel Italian already.

WS: Is it true that your son, Thiago, is looking a useful footballer?
GB: Give him a chance, he's only six. But yes, I think he's got a talent for kicking ball...

WS: As far as playing for Argentina is concerned, do you think you will be playing in the 2002 World Cup finals?
GB: I believe so, I'm pleased that Bielsa has taken over from Daniel Passarella, because Bielsa was my first coach when I started playing back in Argentina.

WS: Looking back, how do you feel about France 98?
GB: It was a pity we didn't have enough time to prepare properly. We had too many players based abroad, which meant we didn't have long enough to work together, to become a unit. As a team we didn't match the total qualities of the individual players - and that's why we only got as far as the quarter-finals. If we had more time to get to know each other, as peoplea s much as players, things would bave been different.

WS: Is it true that Michael Schumacher, the racing driver, is giving you flying lessons?
GB: Yes, it's a wonderful diversion from football.

WS: It's said that you don't really like football. Is that true?
GB: Look, what I don't like is that football is run by people who have never kicked a football in their life, while we players are almost never allowed the chance.

WS: Many thousands of youngsters idolise you. Do you have any message for them?
GB: Play for enjoyment. Just think about playing, nothing else; not about millionaire contracts or fashionable clothes. Play and enjoy. That's what matters most.

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