BY FAR THE LONGEST ARTICLE, INTERVIEW, THAT I HAVE DONE. ENJOY!!
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WARRIOR SNEIJDER
The playmaker of Inter, at Gazzetta headquarter, talks about the Scudetto as a leader.
Eto'o: here for two months? No, it would not be right.
Ranieri: now we are in the right place just like with Mou.
Ibra: I like him. He is like a street fighter.
- "I am happy that I stay at Inter. I never thought of going away."
- "Gasperini said that I enjoyed playing as a director? It is not true and I told him right away."
- "The biggest rival in the race for the Scudetto? Napoli, an organized team."
- "I played with Ibra at Ajax. He is like me, a street fighter."
WESPLOSIVE
All Sneijder: "Gasperini and Ranieri, here is the truth. We are still for the Scudetto."
"Now we are in the right place just like with Mou. But we must not stop at 1-0."
Sneijder, things have changed in two months and to think that you could leave Inter...
"I never thought about leaving and others did not know about this. In fact, I knew when I left for vacation, in my head was an idea of coming back. Then while I was on holiday my agent called me and said: 'We must speak with Inter.' Inter had to tell me that, if there was a possibility, I could be sold. It was not a technical problem, I really don't believe so. But it was a question of money. In short, something had changed and I changed my way of thinking too."
And then what?
"Then I arrived in Pinzolo and I found more or less the same team. I spoke with Moratti, who for me is a great person, Branca, Ausilio and they told me that I am very important to this club."
Sure but until Eto'o was sold, there were no uncertainties.
"One of us had to go and the day of Eto'o's farewell, I realized that I would be the one that is staying. And I am very happy to do so."
Meanwhile, you were placed as a midfielder.
"With Gasperini, we talked with each other little but about my role, we talked about it a lot. I told him once that: 'I do not playing in the midfield.' Because I am an attacker now a midfielder.'
But Gasperini said that you enjoyed playing there?
"He said that I would always have the ball in that position but I like to be more advanced forward and closer to the goal."
So other than as a trequartista, maybe as a second striker?
"Yes I also want to do that provided that I have the freedom to get and as well pass the ball. I did in Beijing and honesty I must say that we saw the best Inter of this year in that first half, too bad there was the second half."
So?
"So it is better for me to be a second striker than a midfielder. But I prefer to be behind the two strikers by far."
So where are you today?
"I am being used in the right place by Ranieri who is very good and has figured out how to play this team: each in its place and that is the key. Now I am in my place, my role. When he arrived, Ranieri and I talked because he talks a lot with this players that's how I like it."
So it is easier to score or make an assist?
"If I must choose between a goal and an assist, I prefer a beautiful assist without a doubt."
One thing that Ranieri said to you that you like more than others?
"That he wants me here and in my position and that is extremely important for the team. This charges me up and gives me great confidence. Another man who knows how to talk to me like Ranieri was Mourinho. Even though..."
Even though?
"Even though it goes without saying that we continue to look in these coaches a little bit of Mourinho whose presence I can still feel around here. There is no one like him, no one knows how to treat each individual player like him. Coming after for Mourinho would have been difficult for everyone, not just Benitez."
Who is after Mourinho in your personal table of those that have coached you?
"Van Basten and then Hank Ten Cate."
The league table is ugly huh?
"Yet I say that we can still win the league even if today we have more points in the Champions League. Because with many matches to be played, you can still recover those eight points difference. Because after the victory in Lille, we can only look forward even though I never been afraid of having to look back. Because pretty much all the injured players are coming back: Maicon, Thiago Motta, myself... Because the hunger for victories never goes away: if you won, you want to win more."
"ETO'O HERE FOR TWO MONTHS? NO IT WOULD NOT BE RIGHT."
"If he comes and who is playing and who is going to the bench? I would like to team up with Messi but at Inter."
And what about the opponents of Inter in the table this year?
"I would say that Napoli are in front of everybody. Not the one that I saw at the San Siro: we did well in the first half and then they got a penalty and it was 11 against 10. For them it was all easy. I say the Napoli that are well organized and playing as a team. I really like him."
And Juve? They don't have to spend their mental and physical effort on the Champions League?
"If you win, the Champions League doesn't have any weigh at all and we know it well."
Weigh on your shoulders as one of the leaders?
"In the contrary, it helps me as well as my national team. As I said earlier on Monday in Lille, under pressure, I have played the best games of my career."
Three examples?
"The first derby that I played after arriving in Milan for one day. A home game with the Netherlands because when you play in the national team, you are always under review. Against Chelsea in London in the year of the treble."
The ability of playing under pressure is born or made?
"I don't know. I know that I have always been the same. Yeah I grew up in a tough neighborhood and I was not even the tallest player so I had to always fight with the bigger players than me. And then there was the Ajax school where they teach you to have a little bit of arrogance to say that: 'This is easy to win.' A mixture of these two things have helped me a lot as a player."
Ibrahimovic also attended Ajax school.
"We played together. I like his character and occasionally I see him in Milan. I am a bit like him, a street fighter."
But he fights too much no?
"I have also lost my head in so many games in 12 years and once I got a four-match ban. I do not regret it: sometimes it's nice to argue. It's good for you."
What now at Inter?
"First, win against Chievo, Atalanta. Then win against Juve and it will be a turning point."
Well, that true turning point could very well be Inter-Juve.
"It is also true to a certain extent the possible wins against Chievo and Atalanta, which can also give us confidence to beat Juve. Because if you lose or draw one of these games, then it is likely that you do not win even against Juventus."
And the second thing?
"Learning to play close games. If we have the 1-0 lead, we must try to make it 2-0. So far, what we are doing is this when we have the 1-0 lead: 'Ok, we scored a goal, let's all back to defend now.' At Lille I was afraid, at some point I started to shout: 'Come on, let's go.' I discussed about this to Ranieri, my teammates. It is very important."
Have you shouted to Lucio to not leave the defense?
"I always say to him that 'do not go forward, stay there.'"
And Zarate?
"He understands everything without me saying anything. It's easy to play with him."
And Forlan?
"Just always attacking and you will see. The beginning he was on the wing and could not do well there."
And Alvarez?
"Ricky is young and always does great things in training. Then when he plays as if he is afraid or something. Or as if he wants to do too many things all at once. Just play simple and easy."
It's so hard to win the Golden Ball?
"At this point to do that I think I have to win something with Holland: the World Cup or maybe even Europe. But those who believed that not winning it last year was the biggest disappointment of my career do not understand anything because it was something I did not really care about. Because to win the Champions League, you have to do it on the field which we did but to win the Golden Ball, someone has to decide that for you. There is a difference."
But what was the biggest disappointment in your career?
"That I did not win the World Cup. I would still be crying if I think about it so that means that it still hurts me."
So we try again at European tournament?
"Holland is among the favorites with Spain and Germany. Italy? I don't have you in the top three, I'm sorry."
How do you beat Spain?
"If perhaps Van Bommel can give me an assist like the one he gave the other night to Brassen of Bate Borisov..."
Easier K.O. to deal with? Spain with Holland or Barcellona with Inter?
"Between Real and Barcelona, I would still root for Real but when we talk about Barca, we talk of another world. Playing against them is very difficult. The only way to beat them is to play a game like Inter did at the San Siro when we won 3-1."
That day Eto'o did not score but are you missing him?
"We lost a great player. A player who helped the team a lot."
And if he returns in January?
"I read and heard about this. But I also heard that it is impossible. I don't think that it will happen. It would not be good or right if it happens."
Why?
"Samuel is a great friend but it would mean that coming back here for two months and then leave again? Today there is this Inter and we must play with this team. Otherwise, what would happen? Who is playing today if Eto'o comes and who is going to the bench for two months?"
Milan did it with Beckham.
"That's a whole other thing. How many shirts did Milan sell with Beckham? With Eto'o, it would not be about merchandising. Maybe at Anzhi, but not at Inter."
A player that you would like to have as a teammate?
"Messi, but he must come here to Inter."
That answer is too easy.
"Rodney also, my brother."
But he said that in Italy, football stinks.
"No, the Dutch media got it wrong or someone misinterpreted it badly... However, to avoid any doubt: I like the Italian league, I like the pressure here. In Spain, you could win almost all matches, even away from home. In Italy, you can lose in Novara and Catania. So it's more fun."
More fun to play for Manchester United or City?
"I will tell you this Sunday. Who is playing at home? United? Then City win."
How much do you miss your wife Yolanthe?
"Very but rightly so. She is in Los Angeles with CAA (Creative Artist Agency) and working for major contracts. We have not seen each other for three weeks but I am happy for her."
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