Gabriel, a tough guy so tender
Date: Nov 25th, 1999
By: David Guetta
Source: La Nazione
Translated by: Paolina
Irina: "A tough guy so tender"
Irina Batistuta tells about herself. It is the first time and she does it for
'La Nazione'. The picture that comes out is of a woman that is beautiful
inside. A mother and a wife like many others, humility has always accompanied her
since her first day in Italy and now it's helping her in her job as interviewer.
She also doesn't have the pretence of not being considered the wife of … She
knows very well the rules of the game, even though it is possible that her
discretion was her first virtue during her 8 years in Florence. But she knows
who she has married and she'd live through everything again from the start. She
doesn't have regrets and in these days it means a lot.
"When they told Gabriel about the transfer to Italy I was attending university,
it was my second year. I was studying medicine, I wanted to help handicap
children to talk, but I was also working in a dance school because I liked to be
independent for my money. Particularly, about Argentina I remember the houses,
that are more modern. Over there it's more green, many houses have their own
garden. In school they made us study Italy , but they didn't teach us the
language, so at the beginning it was tough: I didn't understand what everybody
was saying. When I left I was 5 months pregnant and I had to take a decision
immediately: I said yes from the start, by instinct, I coudn't let Gabriel alone
in that new situation: I imagined that he would have had problems and if I had
waited a few weeks they wouldn't allow me to fly."
Me and Florence
"I liked Florence on the spot and we were lucky to find true friends immediately: Lisetta and Stefano, the Iachini family. Eating has never been a problem, after all in Italy there is a cult of meat too and I learned to cook. Gabriel is quite good too, if he had to stay alone for one week, he wouldn't certainly starve. His specialities are asado and chops. At the beginning we were sure that we would have returned to Argentina at the end of his career, now we are less sure, even though Gabriel has a big investment there, now his father takes care of it but sooner or later he' ll retire. I think it won't be easy to leave this town for Rui Costa too." Me and Soccer
"I didn't like it when I was younger and even today I can't understand the
fanaticism that surrounds it. For example: I would never ask for an autograph to a
champion. At the beginning, I confess, it was tough. Admirers (women), the lack
of privacy, to be always the centre of attraction. Then I understood and
accepted. But soccer still stays out of our home and, apart from the first
difficult months, I don't remember a single time that Gabriel let out his
tension, for the inevitable negative periods, in the family.. I hope that he
remains in the world of soccer after the end of his career, he's not a football fan
but I wouldn't like to see him around the house in his slippers or watching TV.
If he does that, but I don't think so as I know his character, it'll be my
business to shake him up. It would be beautiful to see him teaching the secrets
of his profession to the children."
Me and Gabriel
You can't learn to be a wife and a mother, it's an experience that you live
day by day. Being alone in Florence helped us to grow up closer because at the
begining it was like being the survivors of a shipwreck. If we had moved to
another city probably it would have been the same, or maybe not, but now with
the children it's all different. Anyway I'm happy that we remained in Florence.
It's not true, as I read, that Gabriel is unable of showing an affection.
Since he was a child his family made him a responsible person and he did the
same thing with Thiago, our eldest son, but he became softer with the others ...
We live a normal life, we rarely go out but if he's among friends he let go and
he even dance with me. Well, he's a very good dancer, but in public he would
have all the eyes on him. Me jealous? At the beginning very much now I'm jealous in
the right way."
Me and My Children
"Thiago is 8 years old and he has the same character as Gabriel, he's very
responsible and he stands up to his father with stubbornness. I'm already a
mediator between them. Thiago speaks a little Spanish but he's very attached to
Florence and to his friends, and sometimes he comes up with some typical
expressions of Tuscany. Lucas, 3 years old, is the one who likes to be cuddled
the most, while Joaquin, a year and a half, is the most cunning and he has
already learned how to turn us around. A baby girl remains a wish and maybe in a
few years I'll try again, but they have to find a way to fix the sex of the
baby first. I don't have any preference among my children, at the most I'll
risk to be too sweet with a future baby girl."
Me and Religion
"I believe in God and I try not to do to other people what I wouldnt like them to do to me. I don't envy anyone, it's not in my nature, and the woman that I most admired was Mother Teresa of Calcutta. I liked the strength that she was able to show on all occasions." Me and Working
"The experience at Channel 10 is a first very important step. I started knowing
that I had everything to learn and I try to take the advice of Paolo Del Bianco
and Olivia Verdiani who follow all my reports. My passion is the dance and my
dream is to make a tv programme about fitness, maybe to open a gym. I don't care
about popularity, and I'm not interested at all in being recognized . Gabriel
never opposed to the fact that I worked, on the contrary he often told me that I
had to do something. When I told him about Channel 10 and about the interviews
he was a little surprised, maybe as surprised as the tv audience."