The former goalkeeper: “The first time I was stopped, I was innocent; they swapped the test tubes. The second time, I gave in…”

Angelo Pagotto chose a house in the mountains to work on his renaissance. Castagno d’Andrea is a peaceful spot nestled in the Florentine mountains, a few kilometers from the “fiumicel that rises in Falterona,” as Dante wrote in the Divine Comedy. He was referring to the Arno, whose source welcomes thousands of tourists. Angelo has reached out for his third life. In his first, he won the European Under-21 Championship as a starter, putting Buffon on the bench; in his second, he received two suspensions for doping and substance abuse: the last one lasted eight years and saw him battle depression. The third, perhaps the best, finds him serene in the Apennines.

What do you do today?

“I train the goalkeepers of Pistoiese, where I played my first season as a pro. Otherwise, I’m doing great: I wake up at dawn, swim in the lakes, and meditate. Before Pistoiese, I worked in Prato and Avellino in Serie C, after the end of my suspension.“

From 2007 to 2015. What did you do during those eight years?

”I reinvented myself. What I had earned was gone. I squandered it and I don’t even know how. I worked for two years in Germany as a chef and pizza maker, then I went to Liguria, where my two children live. My sister found me a job as a warehouse worker in a company. There I met Carolina and my life started again.”

Let’s start with the first one, about your life. How did you become a goalkeeper?

“It came naturally to me. When you know, you know. I played for Verbania, but the sporting director had contacts with Serie A teams. Perinetti and Luciano Moggi, who were working at Napoli at the time, had their eye on the starting goalkeeper, but he suggested bringing me along too. And in the end, I went. Perinetti told me that I had cost him 140 million lire.“

You said no to Moggi. Why?

”It was 1995. Sampdoria and Juventus came calling. In Genoa, there was Zenga, who was nearing the end of his career, while in Turin, there was Peruzzi, the regular starter. I wanted to play and turned down Juve. At the time, he was in charge, and after my first suspension, I was rejected by all the Serie A clubs.“

Is your biggest regret leaving Sampdoria?

”Yes, what a mistake, I can say that. The president was going to build the team around me, but after the first few games, Milan came in with a pre-contract and I accepted. Psychologically, I was already at San Siro. I was 22 years old: how could I ever have refused?”

Especially after winning the Under-21 European Championship with Italy in 1996.

“The peak of my career. I was the starter, Buffon was on the bench. In those years, we were the strongest young goalkeepers. I was technical, explosive. Not a phenomenon with my feet, but who cared at the time? Gigi still thanks me for that European Championship. He, Buffon, someone who has won everything, says thank you to Pagotto. In the final against Spain, I saved penalties from Raul and De la Peña. We were a great group: me, Totti, Nesta, Cannavaro, Gigi. Maybe if my life had turned out differently, I could have won the 2006 World Cup with them.“

Where did you start to have difficulties?

”At Milan. There, I was burning through 30 million lire a month without even realizing it: dinners, clothes, nights out.“

Is that why you went to Perugia?

”I wanted to play, as always. Then Gaucci said I had sold a game…”

Why?

“He had argued with Alessandro Moggi, my agent at the time. In the first game of the season, we lost 4-3 to Juve. I made one mistake, Peruzzi made two. The ball at that time, the Galex, bounced when it hit the ground. Gaucci went on TV and said that Tovalieri was a former player and that I had sold the game. It ruined everything for me. It also happened in Trieste, but only because I advised the president to buy experienced players. In 2002, in Serie B, we were top of the table with a team of youngsters. He refused, then when I made my first mistake, he said I had sold the game. I had a three-year contract worth three billion lire and I told him to stick it where the sun don’t shine, but it wasn’t a smart move. It looked like I had something to hide.”

Did Gaucci ever apologize to you?

“I don’t remember, he was a drama queen. In 2000, before that famous Perugia-Juve 1-0 game in the rain, he said that if we lost, he would send us to a training camp. He had interests linked to the Banca di Roma, the same bank as Lazio: he wanted them to win.”

In 2000, he received his first doping ban.

“It was unfair. I went to take the test with another teammate from Perugia and two from Fiorentina. The urine sample was switched, and I paid the price.”

Who was the other teammate?

“I’m not naming names.”

The second ban came in 2007.

“That was a mistake. I was in Crotone, where some people were using substances. They asked me to try it once and I said no, then a second time, a third time… the fourth time I gave in, but only that once. Afterwards, I suffered from depression. It was difficult to accept that something like that had happened to me. I got help.“

What would you say to the Angelo of 15 years ago?

”I wouldn’t slap myself in the face. The serenity I have today is the result of those mistakes. I wasn’t cut out for that environment. Do you know how much I could have earned? How much money did I throw away? No one stayed close to me, but now I’ve started living again.“

What do you say to the kids you coach today?

”To enjoy the moment. In life, everything changes quickly. I learned that the hard way.”