Travelling with Gaby Mudingayi. In the program Drive Inter on Inter Channel Nagaja Becalossi interviewed Inter’s Belgian midfielder who came last summer and has carved a place for himself in the changeable Inter team under Stramaccioni. The conversation begins with Gaby and his life in Milan: “I have chosen to live in the city, in the San Siro area, where I feel good and it is only 10 minutes to the centre., It is also very practical.”
Playing for Inter has always been a dream which has now come true: “Yes, a dream. I’ve always seen it as a great team full of great players. I have always worked to come to a club like this. Inter have won lots In recent years, there have been many great players here. Everybody knows this team’s history, I have often talked about Inter.”
The story of Gaby is special: “I started playing football when I was 15 years, late, before that I really never played. My father told me that if I wanted to, I could go and train at a place close to where we lived. I played for one year or two and then I was recruited by a club in Serie C. Football got a hold of me, a club in the Belgian Serie A chose me and then came Torino, finally Italy. I was thinking about having fun and never thought about the future, so it was a surprise when Torino came along. I said, ‘why not.’ It was a dream for many and I, who had never thought about a life as a football player, seized the opportunity. Those who do not know Torino might talk bad about it but I have been there and enjoyed it and it is really good there.”
Then Lazio: “Rome is fantastic, I played there for three years and it was really great. A great city, full of friendly people. I must say that I am happy to be in Italy. This country has given me everything and I can only say thank you.”
What languages are spoken in the locker room? “Italian, Spanish and a little barese with Cassano (laughs ed.). I love languages so I understand, then there are Brazilians who speak Portuguese.”
The person who is most vocal is Cassano: “Antonio is number one, we are very close and make jokes. To find a person like him, who is straight and honest, is difficult. A fantastic person and as a player it is unnecessary to talk about him, we all know what he is worth.”
In school, it was not as good for Gaby: “I was a disaster. I never liked to study. My mother protected me always, I learned it from my dad at home. My father came to Milan to see the derby, for him, it’s always been a dream for him to see me in a shirt like this. When I told him that I would go to Inter he immediately thanked God. When he learned more about Inter, he said: ‘Really? Inter? Thank God..’ I wanted something serious after all the rumors.”
First time at Appiano: “I remember I said, ‘I’m almost there…’ And as I walked through the gates at Pinetina: ‘I’m here.’ I remember it perfectly. According to me it is one of the most important teams in the world, to come here was a dream. In hindsight, I can reveal that when my agent told me about this opportunity I did not believe him. I told my agent to go all the way and now I am the happiest.”
On the banner ’30 sul campo ce l have solo Mudingayi ‘(30 on the field, it has only Mudingayi’, Gaby is laughing: “The first time I saw it I did not understand what they meant. When I realized it, I started laughing, I thought that it was a nice thing. And after thinking about it for a moment, I managed to understand.”
Mudingayi talked then about San Siro: “An incredible arena. Experiencing it first hand as an Inter player is fantastic. You feel everything, it is huge. I have been lucky enough to play with many great players, from the captain to Sneijder and Cassano. That is something to tell my children about. ”
Zanetti has impressed him the most because “he is a monster. A great man, always laughing and joking, a quiet guy who never feels pressured. I feel honored and proud to play in the same team as him. I admire him because he must love his work and shirt to run so much and win as much as he has done. He is a role model.”
Gaby has two children, “So many that my wife says she always has three children in the house (laughs). A son who lets everything else go to play football, he wants to train and is already talking about formations. The smallest is a menace, just like me. The first is one is calm. However, they are quite amazing.”
Source: fcinternews.it
