In this exclusive interview for Flashscore, the former Juventus defender opens up without filters. From his aversion to the sycophants of the football world to his role as a mentor for youngsters, and his coaching experiences spanning South America, Italy, and the United Arab Emirates with Mario Balotelli.
A journey between the pitch and real life, revealing that, at any latitude, "whoever has a good soul is the same everywhere".
How did your transfer from Uruguay to Italy come about and what do you remember about your first impressions in Bergamo?
"My transfer happened following an issue at Penarol, which had sidelined me from the squad. I was contacted by César Luis Menotti, who was coaching in Uruguay at the time and called me to Buenos Aires: he was a close friend of Antonio Previtali, the president of Atalanta during that period.
"Atalanta decided to buy me without ever having seen me play live, evaluating me solely through five or six scouting reports during our tour in South America and Spain. I arrived in Bergamo in April, but for the first six months I couldn't play: the goal was for me to learn the language and adapt to the city and the team.
"I felt great right away: Montevideo is a small city and has very similar rhythms to those of Turin or Bergamo, so it was easier to settle in there rather than in large metropolises like Rome or Milan.
What were the greatest difficulties upon your arrival and your first impact with Italian football?
"At the beginning, arriving at nineteen years old, I struggled. At that time, Italian football boasted the best players in the world. I remember my second match well, played at San Siro against Milan.
"Sacchi had just left their bench and Capello had arrived; on the pitch there were champions like Maldini, Baresi, Ancelotti, Evani, Donadoni, Van Basten, Gullit, and Rijkaard. We lost 2-0 and practically couldn't get past our own half of the pitch.
"On that occasion, my father pointed out to me that I had to change my mentality immediately: I had to abandon the South American youth approach to become a much more practical defender and adapt to European football."
How did the call from Juventus come about and what did it mean to wear that shirt?
"It's an anecdote I often tell. Initially, I had a couple of meetings with Giacinto Facchetti and Sandro Mazzola to move to Inter, but at the first meeting we didn't reach an agreement. Two days later they called me back; since I didn't have an agent at the time, I went to Milan alone and we reached a verbal agreement.
"Sometime later I was in Bergamo with my family and I received a phone call from Marcello Lippi. He asked me what I was doing and told me to go to Milan to speak with Inter; I replied that we already had an agreement, and he ordered me not to sign anything and to join him immediately in Turin.
"I left that same evening with my brother and at midnight I signed the contract with Juventus and Luciano Moggi."
In almost three hundred appearances for the Bianconeri, you went through different eras. Which was the strongest Juventus team you played in?
"The very first team I found upon my arrival was extremely strong. However, I am convinced that the lineup from the following years, with the addition of Edgar Davids and players like Zidane, Del Piero, Inzaghi, Vieri, and Deschamps, was absolutely the strongest I ever found myself playing in."
Was there a figure in the locker room, a teammate or a director, who passed on the famous Bianconeri winning mentality to you?
"Undoubtedly, directors like Moggi and Giraudo, but transmitting it daily was above all the Italian "hard core" of the locker room: champions like Peruzzi, Ferrara, Conte, Pessotto, Di Livio, Tacchinardi, Torricelli, and Lombardo. They transmitted the sense of "family".
"In such an environment, it was natural to acquire that mentality. I remember an emblematic episode: in a training match, one team was winning 5-0; they conceded a goal at the last minute and I saw some teammates kicking the bags out of frustration.
"They stressed that certain lapses in concentration shouldn't happen because they would be reflected on the pitch on Sunday.
"Concentration is built starting from Monday: for a true champion, there must be no difference between playing a final at the Bernabeu or a match on a small provincial pitch in the Coppa Italia."
You were known for your great grit. How would you describe your interpretation of the defender's role?
"Today, with VAR, football has radically changed. Personally, I always applied a phrase by Julio Velasco that perfectly fits this vision: "Aggressiveness removes doubts".
"Being a physically average defender, slim and one meter seventy-nine tall, the only way to counter ninety-kilo strikers of the calibre of Van Basten, Weah, Batistuta, or Ronaldo was to be extremely aggressive. For me, every tackle represented the "plate of food" to bring home for my family.
"I went for every ball, putting my all into it, eighty kilos on top of the ball. This way of interpreting football inevitably leads you to always be on the edge and, sometimes, to make harsh tackles."
Do you find this type of defender in modern football today?
"Football has changed and defenders today manage in a different way. Recently I went to the stadium to see Torino-Roma and I must say that Roma, defensively, has podium-level players for Italian football.
"Players like Mancini or Ndicka held up very well in the physical confrontation with a striker like Zapata, using their bodies, hands, and a lot of experience. Those with personality always know how to adapt to the evolutions of the game."
What pushed you to leave Italy to return to play in South America at the end of your career?
"Moggi had called me offering a transfer to other teams, but I was aware that, physically and mentally, I was no longer at the top level. I felt I had reached the end of a cycle. My dream was to play a year in Argentina and then keep the promise to end my career at Peñarol, the team I have always supported and where I grew up.
"I played for San Lorenzo for a year and then decided to end my career in Uruguay, so as not to drag things out longer than necessary."
How did your coaching journey begin and the subsequent return to Juventus to lead the youth teams?
"Initially, I had opened an agency for football agents with Gustavo Mendez, a brotherly friend. However, after a couple of years, I realised that world wasn't for me. So I enrolled in the coaching course with the intention of helping young Uruguayans, especially from a tactical and strategic point of view, and I started to become passionate about it.
"The return to Juve came about unexpectedly: Gianluca Pessotto called me and I thought it was to talk about my son, who was playing in the youth sector; instead, he informed me that the management wanted me to work in the Bianconeri youth sector.
"I accepted immediately, first of all for the deep love I feel for the club and for the city of Turin, a place where I have always felt at home from the very beginning."
How do you transmit your competitive grit to young players while teaching them, at the same time, not to cross the line?
"First of all, I ask them to always train at their maximum. The habit of intensity is built during the week: even in training matches, we promote shoulder-to-shoulder physical contact, because it's an attitude that you then find in the match. I always repeat Velasco's phrase to them about aggressiveness removing doubts, making it clear that it doesn't mean making unfair tackles, but putting all of one's body weight into every single challenge.
"Another principle I try to transmit is that you can lose at home, but opponents must not be able to take the victory away easily."
Do you think there is a problem with the mental approach of young people entering professional football today?
"The crucial point is that lads playing in the Primavera or Next Gen must realise that they are now one step away from the First Team or Serie B. Their margin for error is gone. In South America, at nineteen or twenty years old, you are no longer considered a youngster: either you establish yourself, or you don't play anymore. In Italy, there is sometimes the habit of considering a player young even at twenty-three or twenty-five.
"The lads must understand the weight of the shirt they wear. They must understand what it truly means to lose a match at those levels; everything depends on the attitude with which they approach the working week."
What emotions did you feel sitting on the bench of the Juventus first team after Massimiliano Allegri's dismissal?
"It was a very strong emotion. I didn't think in the slightest that I could reach that milestone; I was focused on the end of the season with the youngsters. I was called up for this task and I found a group of players who behaved exceptionally well with me. We played a great match against Bologna, recovering from 3-0 to 3-3, and then an excellent game against Monza.
"Having been inside that locker room, I am sorry to hear certain external criticisms directed at some players. For me, the human relationship comes before any tactical issue; the sincerity and the bond established between coach and team are the foundation of everything."
How did you handle external criticism during your career?
"Criticism is part of this world and must be accepted. I never experienced it as a drama or a personal attack, but I turned it into a stimulus. It was a challenge to be won on the pitch the following Sunday.
"This is the advice I always give my players: if you have trained to the best of your abilities all week, when you step onto the pitch you do so with great serenity and without doubts, aware that you have done everything necessary."
How was your experience with Mario Balotelli?
"It went well. There were moments of direct confrontation, but I got along very well with him. The secret is clarity and consistency. I spoke to him immediately to his face saying: "Things are like this, I know you are no longer twenty years old and that physically you are a different player. Let's talk together to manage your workload during the week, so you can arrive at the match in the best condition, but you have to lose weight and get back in shape".
"He accepted and behaved in a very professional manner. When they entrusted him to me, they told me I would have problems, but in my career, I have never had conflicts with players of strong personality. The real problems in football arise with sycophants and those who are fake.
"I come from a sports culture where everything was cleared up looking each other in the eye; I learned this at Atalanta with players of great depth and at Juventus, where we had sixteen national team captains in the locker room. I prefer someone who tells you things openly over someone who puts on a brave face."
Having travelled and coached in many parts of the world, including the United Arab Emirates, what did the encounter with such different cultures leave you with?
"The experience in the United Arab Emirates was one of the most beautiful surprises of my life. I felt great; I met people of extreme generosity and great workers. Obviously, there were religious and cultural customs to respect different from ours. For example, during Ramadan, knowing that they don't eat or drink while the sun is up, we met with the players to plan the sessions and moved the training to ten in the evening to help them.
"In the end, travelling, you realise that humanity is the same everywhere. Regardless of religion, culture, or language, whoever has a good soul and behaves well is the same in China, in Uruguay, in Italy, or in the Emirates. It is the most important human lesson I have received."