Serginho: I felt evil before the penalty shootout in the 2005 Champions League final and had a premonition that Milan would lose.

November 8th: Former AC Milan full-back Serginho recently accepted an interview with Gazzetta dello Sport. He recalled his red-black career and also talked about the pain of losing his son.

Whenever this topic is brought up, Serginho's face becomes serious, his usual bright smile disappears, and his eyes become gloomy: "I can never get used to talking about the death of my son. This is a tragedy that makes me question all certainties. Since a year ago, my life has been completely disrupted." Serginho lives with his family in Milan, and of course often travels to and from Brazil, but his base is Italy. The following is the reporter's conversation with him:

Serginho, let's start with the heaviest topic. More than a year ago, in August 2024, your son Diego passed away. How to face such pain?

"This grief is indescribable. I will never get used to talking about Diego's death. Since he left, I have begun to question all my beliefs. This is the most intense pain a human being can endure. Now I live for him, and I believe that in another world we will always be together."

Everything happened so fast, and the reason has never been clear...

"He had pain in his shoulder, but we didn't understand why. He was an athlete and practiced jiu-jitsu. We had him tested and the results were normal. But within a few weeks, his condition suddenly worsened. I knew it was all the e-cigarette's fault: he was vaping all day long and it had become a bad habit."

Do the Rossoneri fans give you a lot of support?

"Very, very much. In my most difficult moments, I felt a huge amount of love that I will never forget."

Now let's go back to your time in Milan. Remember how Braida signed you?

"You know, Ancelotti came to see me the day before when he was still coaching Juventus: we had a friendly match with the Brazilian national team in Fortaleza. He recommended me, Dida and Marcio Amoro to Juventus So... But then Braida beat me to it. It only took him ten minutes to convince me. He brought along Edinho, a former Udinese defender with over a hundred appearances in Serie A, who acted as intermediary and translator a month later. , I went to Italy and became a player under Zaccheroni. "

When Zaccheroni was coaching, you didn't work well with him...

"It was a nightmare! We had to spend at least half an hour on tactical training. I thought, 'When will we get the ball? '. We were often 11-0 in training, which was unimaginable to me. I was frustrated, felt uncomfortable, and wanted to leave."

Then the old Maldini came and everything changed.

"I want to thank him and Ancelotti. Cesare Maldini saved my career: he told me to just focus on attack, and under his leadership we won 6-0 in the derby. I was always the best on the pitch. Then Carlo came and the team was completely new. We were an incredible team, in those years we were the strongest team in the world."

Speaking of derby, do you remember the six days between the two semi-finals?

"Those were tough days and I remember Berlusconi coming into the dressing room and cheering us on. I know Nesta, Pirlo, Gattuso and others were under a lot of pressure, and the media and TV were adding fuel to the fire. We Brazilian players were calmer and away from the pressure."

Was the penalty kick you scored in the final the most important moment of your career?

"Yes, overall it is to win the Champions League. When taking the penalty kick, the goal looked very small against Buffon. But luckily, everything went smoothly."

You have gained a lot of honors in those years, winning the Champions League twice, and you can even win it three times...

"I think, We lost the game in Istanbul even if we played a week later. It was a nightmarish and unrealistic night. Dudek's save against Shevchenko was incredible. I told him about it years later on the bench, before the penalty shootout started. We didn't know why we had a feeling that something was going to go wrong. He said to Anshuai: ‘Coach, we will lose, tonight’s goal was bad.’ Sure enough, me, Pirlo, and Shevchenko missed the penalty kick. We are the three best penalty kickers. This is a psychological problem, not a technical problem, or there is witchcraft..."

Some people said that Milan had already celebrated at halftime...

"It was all stupid talk. The opposite was true: we all quarreled and even cursed each other. That season we often lost concentration in the second half, and it was the same in Istanbul. But no one dared to celebrate at that moment."

That Milan team had a great manager they could rely on and the best president in history, Silvio Berlusconi. Do you have any memories of them?

"Of course, I could write a book about the president. He is inimitable and unique. He often comes to the locker room to give us tactical advice and ask us to play well. Sometimes he comes to Milanello to have lunch with us. Let me tell you a story: One day he pulled me aside and taught me how to defend. He said: 'I will teach you how to do it, you have to predict in advance.' Then he took a bodyguard and several humanoid stand-ups on the court to show me the moves."

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