Fiorentina captain German Pezzella discussed the Coronavirus emergency, its effect on Europe and the strongest defenders in the world in an interview in today’s paper edition of the Rome based newspaper Corriere dello Sport.
“I’ve had a few symptoms, luckily nothing particularly serious. Then knowing that there was already one positive in the team, which was Vlahovic, I thought it could be the coronavirus.”
The 28-year-old Argentine defender revealed that he wasn’t initially worried that he had contracted the virus, before the scale of contagion was fully realized.
“Not at first. It seemed like it might be a pretty narrow thing. Then when I started to see that the range was widening and spreading like wildfire, I thought it could be anyone’s turn. We are not immune, we are normal people like everyone else, it is a virus that can affect anyone, that is why we all have to respect the directives of the institutions, even to defend those who are more fragile.”
The Fiorentina captain did not think that the Italian government had underestimated the virus.
“I don’t think it was underestimated, especially in Italy. I simply think that, being completely new, nobody really knew how to deal with it at first. When the situation became clearer, in its drama, the government took strong decisions and I hope that the results can start to be seen soon.”
He revealed which players he thought were his strongest opponents.
“There are a lot of strong players in Italy, lately more and more are coming. It’s difficult to name a single name but Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Romelu Lukaku are no joke.”
Pezzella highlighted how finishing the season was much less important than ensuring the safety of the general public.
“Honestly, I don’t know. It’s not our decision. There are the institutions, football or not, that will decide for the best. Right now, what matters is everyone’s health, then there will be time for everything else.”
Finally, Pezzella discussed the strongest defenders in the world currently.
“Here too the list would be long. Both in Italy and in Europe. The list would be very long, here in our league there are champions like Giorgio Chiellini or Stefan De Vrij, abroad Virgil Van Dijk from Liverpool comes to mind.”
Pezzella, who is contracted to the Florence based club until 2022, has made 24 appearances across all competitions so far this season, for a total of 2047 minutes. In that time, he has scored two goals and provided one assist, as well as helping the side keep seven clean sheets.
