Date: February '99
Reporter: With Fiorentina at the top of the league after beating many top teams, you must be
feeling very good.
Reporter: Before the start of this season, you were still making comments about leaving
Fiorentina, but eventually you had decided to stay. What made you change your mind ?
Reporter: It seems you have made the right decision to stay.
Reporter: You had a good relationship with Malesani. After he transferred to Parma, did
you ever consider joining him ?
Reporter: Is there any difference between Malesani and Trappatoni ?
Reporter: Frictions within the team have always been Fiorentina’s woe, is it now a thing of
the past ?
Reporter: Which tactic suits you most ? At Fiorentina although there are Edmundo, Rui
Costa and Oliveira’s coordination, I feel the tactic Roma employs suits your style more—
High speed feeding from left and right wings helps you achieve more goals. What do you
think ?
Reporter: Edmundo is very skillful, his dribbling and passes are excellent, except he does
not give too much thought to planned strategy.
Reporter: In the recent matches I’ve noticed his change. Very often he sets you up, not like
before fighting with you for the chance to score.
Reporter: Between the Scudetto for the team and the Top Scorer Award, which one is more
valuable to you ?
Reporter: Fiorentina was disqualified in the Eufa cup becos of the misconduct of a few fans.
How do you feel ?
Reporter: These fire cracker device is quite powerful. If it were thrown into the stands, the
consequence would have been quite serious.
Reporter: People comment that Fiorentina can be at the top of serie A becos they have been
disqualified from EUFA matches. Do you agree ?
Reporter: This season AC Milan has performed better than last year, but overall they still
lack consistency, perhaps due to Zacheroni’s management style.
Reporter: Inter and Juventus both suffer poor standing due to injuries. This will surely help
Fiorentina’s chance of getting the Scudetto ?
Reporter: Lazio and Roma are both counted as black horses, what is your impression ?
Reporter: You’ve scored 11 goals in 10 matches. Estimating from these figures you should
be able to make 30 goals or more. Do you have the confidence ?
Reporter: In the recent matches Rui Costa is the penalty kicker. This would affect your
chance of getting the top scorer award.
Reporter: If you had joined Inter, in your guess who would take the penalty kick, you or
Ronaldo ?
Reporter: Before World cup 98, during the friendly match of Fifa world stars vs European
stars, you and Ronaldo worked as a striking team and had a outstanding performance.
Reporter: After the World Cup many players exhibit symntons of fatigue : Del Piero,
Zidane, Ronaldo all underperform. But you don’t play any different, why ?
Reporter: Then why haven’t you suffered this loss of form this time around ?
Reporter: You are now approaching 30, have you thought about taking part in the 2002
World Cup ? The last 2 times you were not able to leave a legacy.
Reporter: The previous Argentina coach Passarella did not lead the national team into
victory, what is the reason?
Reporter: There was saying that relationship between Passarella and you are not ideal, there
was very little direct communication.
Reporter: If you have to choose the best player in Europe in 98, whom would you pick ?
Reporter: Now, Batistuta is an honest man, it is a pleasure to be your friend. But in a team
of 23 to 25 men, if you speak your mind on everything, wouldn’t there be conflict?
Reporter: Undeniably, Fiorentina has a powerful offense, but the defense is causing a little
worry. There seems to be a lack of balance between offense and defense.
Reporter: You think your coach will be successful in improving defense within this season ?
Source: Comprehensive Football (a Taiwanese magazine)
Transcribed & translated by: Ellen Fung
During the summer of 98 many top European clubs have sought for Batistuta’s contract.
After 7 years with Fiorentina, having no major championship to show for, that was the
time Batistuta really considered leaving his club, that is, until Trappatoni’s arrival. It now
seems he has made the right decision to stay, with Fiorentina at the top of the serie a
standing and 17 personal goals in 18 matches.
Batistuta: At this moment it doesn’t mean too much, with only one third of the matches
played. If we are still at the top at season’s end perhaps will feel very excited. It’s
pointless to think about position now, it’s more important to believe in our ability, to
concentrate on every match. I’ve spent 7 seasons at Fiorentina, we now have the best
form and performance.
Batistuta: Indeed I have told people about transferring to other clubs, but deep down there
was no decision made. I enjoy life in Florence tremendously, I have made many friends
during the seven years. My family also wishes to stay here. But I am a soccer player, and
within the short career as a professional player I must strive to attain my utmost goal. If
it’s not consideration for my family and reform within the club I may be playing with
another club now.
Batistuta: Fiorentina is enjoying the best season of the past 7 years. If we stay like this
there’s a good chance we will win the scudetto.
Batistuta: Malesani did discuss with me about it and I gave it some consideration. If
Trappatoni hasn’t arrived, I should be playing for Parma now. Besides being an
experienced coach, Trappatoni is extremely skillful in handling relationships, which can
reduce the conflict between players and the top management. You should know our
chairman who is like a living volcano prone to erupt anytime.
Batistuta: They are totally different. Malesani made use of tactics and strategies. To achieve
his theory he would ask players to try new ways. Trappatoni is different. He takes
advantage of each player’s strength and let him maximize his best. You’ll see
Fiorentina’s strategy is varied this season. At the same time Trappatoni also managed to
maintain harmony among players so our team can put in steady performance every time.
Batistuta: Fiorentina is a team with many excellent players. At the start of each season , the
manager and the players usually holds very high hopes. So when things do not go well
there would be arguments among players which indirectly contributes to sliding
performances. With Trap joining us this problem which has plagued us many years is
finally put to rest.
Batistuta: Last season Fiorentina had tried Roma’s way. Without question it helps the center
forward gain more goals. But this season Trap has arranged Edmundo to be my striking
partner. The idea is not bad except in the beginning it was difficult for me. Becos Ed’s
style is very erratic his teammates can never predict his intension. If we can improve our
mutual understanding Fiorentina ‘s striking power will have greater impact.
Batistuta: All Brazilian players are like this, when a ball is under his feet he would not pass
it out right away. We have already realized his habit. Give him a little more time to
adjust, this shouldn’t be a problem.
Batistuta: Scoring is a team effort, not a personal thing. I’m not being conceited when I say
I should be the best scorer in the team.
Batistuta: To win the Scudetto is of course my priority. If it helps the team to win I would
not mind to pass up scoring chances to my teammates. But personally I would hope that
while gaining the Top Scorer Award my team also wins the Scudetto.
Batistuta: We would have shown our best to Europe if not for some irresponsible people. Of
course I felt terrible. Even though Eufa had disqualified us unreasonably the whole world
should know Fiorentina is blameless.
Batistuta: Thank god we have not been injured. I hope the linesman will recover soon.
Batistuta: Personally I would rather be participating in some major competitions. EUFA
Cup is a prestigious International title, both to me and to the club. It is at least as
important as the serie A title.
Batistuta: Other than Milan, Parma is also a little inconsistent. These 2 teams both place
emphasis on strategy, so the players need sometime to adjust to their manager’s plan. But
once the players have practiced the format well, even with a few players injured, the
reserve will be able to play just as well. I believe Milan and Parma will have greater
success in the latter half of the season.
Batistuta: They have not performed very well lately, but their score is not too far behind
from us. In the 3-point matches, once you slip a little the other will right away claim your
position.
Batistuta: Lazio is a strange team: their manager keeps switching players and strategy, but
the result is not obvious. And all newly acquired players are injury prone. I see Lazio has
a weak defense: unless Nesta comes back from injury they will not have an easy time.
Roma is a team with formidable attack, their scores are staggering. May be I’m a striker,
I like Roma’s strategy.
Batistuta: I’ll try, but it’s quite impossible.
Batistuta: This season I’ve missed a few penalty kicks, so Trap’s decision is not without
grounds. I’ll try my best to regain confidence and get the job back.
Batistuta: If I have to join Inter, I would have done it last year. Ronaldo and I are good
friends, may be we’ll decide by toss of coin.
Batistuta: We have had a good time together. His kicks are simple and direct, it’s a pleasure
to work with him. And he is very easy going, you would never get into fights with him,
not even in the same team.
Batistuta: After the 94 World Cup, I had experienced the same fatigue. Players are stressed
out, physically and mentally, by pre-match training and match time pressure. It takes
some time to get back to form.
Batistuta: I have begun to enjoy just playing, I treat the training, the matches, and the drills
as form of entertainment. Now I am able do it totally relaxed and pressure free, which is
how I keep in form.
Batistuta: I’ll be 33 by then, it is questionable I’ll still be good enough to be selected. May
be I’ll have to retire due to injuries. But the way Argentina prepares for World Cup is
different from other countries. We would start organizing the team and tactics a few years
in advance. In my current form I should have a good chance to join the national team.
Batistuta: I don’t know how to answer you, you’ll have to ask him.
Batistuta: I don’t object to the saying. I felt he did not value my presence. The first time we
met, he had said to me : you must put in excellent performance in every match or another
player will take your place. Of course I tried hard in every match, and follow his bidding
very closely, but Passarella never changed his attitude towards me. If it wasn’t AFA’s
wishes, Passarella may not have called me into the team. My career in soccer has not
been smooth, the agony of being demoted to serie B with Fiorentina is still etched in my
mind. The last few years have been my golden years and I hope to compete in the top
tournaments of Europe.
Batistuta: Even though I am working well these days, I cannot compare to Zidane or
Ronaldo. To start with I have not won any major league titles. Zidane is the winner of the
World Cup this year and scored the 2 decisive goals, his name will always be etched in
the history of world soccer. He should be the best player of 98.
Batistuta: I don’t deny I like to voice my opinions. In Fiorentina, there are over 20 people
counting players alone, with each having their own mind. It is impossible to expect
everybody to accept your idea. But I will not hide my thinking just to keep people happy.
So long as the points made are positive and constructive, it shouldn’t be a problem.
Batistuta: Trappatoni has been recruiting and revamping the strategy along this regard. We
have lost 3 matches. If we want to win the Scudetto we cannot lose more than 5 matches.
Of course our coach understands that, he is now making preparation to strengthen our
defense.
Batistuta: No matter how outsiders criticize our defense, I have always had absolute
confidence in my teammates, including our defense players.