Former Bologna and Inter striker, Julio Cruz, was interviewed by Milano based newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport ahead of today’s clash between the two teams.
What kind of relationship do you have with Mihajlovic?
“He is a friend, as soon as I heard of the news of him coming back to Bologna I texted him. He responded that he thinks he can make a difference there.”
What if the relationship between Inter and Spalletti continues to fade?
“I have always believed in him, Luciano is a person that works a lot and well, but Inter does not grow, he always has problems with the team.”
What about Antonio Conte walking around Corso Vittorio Emanuele after Inter’s painful exit of the Coppa Italia?
“I do not know what will happen, but Antonio has proven himself to be a great player and a coach. He is the Italian version of Pep Guardiola.”
Is Beppe Marotta the right person to relaunch Inter?
“Yes, his CV says it all. He is a man of football, the person that was needed in order to give discipline to the club and his impact has been immediately evident.”
You have had a close relationship to Sinisa, do you have any stories to tell us?
“The first one is from when he was playing in Lazio and I was playing for Bologna. During a game he gave me so many hits that we were almost fighting, but when we met at the Pinetina for the first time we just had a lot of laughs. The second memory is that he made me score a lot of goals, he used to say to me: “Go to the front post and I will meet you there.” And whenever there was a free kick or a corner kick he always aimed for me. The third memory is that whenever he gets mad, and that happened a lot, it was only because he benefited from it as a player.”
Bologna have to be constructive in order not to lose and Inter has to be the same in order to get back on the right path?
“I want only the best for Sinisa and the same goes for Bologna, the other day I saw footage of the new stadium, Bologna has to stay in the Serie A. As for Inter the team has to be there. Inter are Juventus’ rivals but they do not succeed. Why? I am afraid they always pick the wrong players. Nainggolan? I have lived in Rome and I can say that it is different from Milano, now we are talking about short term goals.”
