“It was a Rolls Royce that no longer ran”

Ciro Immobilelegend of the laziowhere he is the all-time top scorer, but the target of criticism during his time at the ‘Azzurra’, of which he is now head of the under-16 team, he assured that his retirement came when he stopped enjoying himself and admitted that in ten years he would like to be on the bench for the Italian team.

“When you have a Rolls Royce and you realize that it no longer runs like before, you must give up. It was a Rolls Royce that no longer ran. Things turned out half-way for me: this really happened to me. Let’s also add the vanity of not wanting to leave behind a not-nice memory of me,” he explained. Immobile In an interview published this Saturday by the newspaper Corriere della Sera.

The former striker, 36 years old and scorer of 350 goals during his career, 207 for the Laziale team, put an end to his time as a footballer last summer and has now started a new one with the Italian youth teams.

“I have given and received so much from football, stopping is a matter of respect for yourself and for those who look at you,” he said.

Immobile also valued the work of Roberto Mancini at the head of Italy and considered that the coach has been “the best choice”, especially for his ability to recover the group and bet on young people.

“He has the ability to create a group, he doesn’t come to the locker room or training to mess with your head. He looks for moral qualities, he knows that they are as important as the technical ones,” he said.

Regarding the possibility of succeeding him one day, the former footballer was ambitious: “I have a way to go, in ten years I would like to be there.”

The former Italian international also recalled his departure from Lazio, where he lived his best years and became one of the great figures in the club’s history.

“They were accompanying me to the door shaking my hand, in the end I raised that same hand and left,” said Immobile, who, despite everything, assured that until the end he maintained a close relationship with President Claudio Lotito.

“I swear that until the end there was a father-son relationship between Lotito and me. That’s why the displeasure was double. I opened the door, I removed uncomfortable situations,” he added.

Asked about the coaches who had the most impact on him, he chose Simone Inzaghi, with whom he met at Lazio: “Above all from a human point of view, he is unique. We have also related to our families.”

Instead, he placed the German Jurgen Klopp as the coach from whom he received the least, since the player was still “too young.”

Immobile was also for years one of the main focuses of criticism towards the Italian team, especially for his difficulties in transferring to the ‘Azzurra’ the scoring efficiency that he showed during his time at Lazio. Despite this, he was part of the team that won the 2021 Euro Cup.