The words of former player, Cesar, on his experience and tonight’s match between Lazio and Porto
In the interview with Leather, Cesar Aparecido Rodrigues spoke about tonight’s match between Lazio and Porto.
PAROLE– «The double UEFA Cup semi-final against Porto? I regret it. Roberto Mancini still takes it out on us because we were stronger. I can’t stomach the fact that we went into that match slightly unprepared (the match ended 4-1). We knew something about Porto, it wasn’t like today, today you have reports, videos… Mourinho wasn’t very well known yet but they had great intensity on every ball. We were very strong, but history explained to us who that Porto was. The stadium was bedlam, we were strong, organised. Claudio Lopez’s lead did not last long. In the return leg we started from 4-1 in the first leg, we knew it would be very difficult. Lopez also missed a penalty, in the final minutes I was sent off with Postiga, in fact I saw the Champions League preliminary round against Benfica from the stands. I scored a goal on the return leg, with a header. When I arrived at Lazio Mancini told me that he didn’t think I was useful for his game, then I had a great pre-season but the coach put me in the stands for the first season of the championship. I went to Cragnotti to ask him for the transfer, then Sorin caused the decisive goal that made Chievo win. We played against Wisla Krakow on a pitch full of snow that season. Mancini was a man who knew the Lazio environment well »
