The former Sampd’oro midfielder, world champion with zero minutes in 1982: “The coach preferred athletes with no interests outside soccer, but in Hammamet with Cossiga, I was like a kid in a toy store. And Vialli…”
Listening to him speak, it’s natural to wonder what Beppe Dossena has to do with a world that is often portrayed as superficial, empty, even rotten by some. But, ultimately, that’s clearly not the case. Because when talking about his past, the former Sampdoria midfielder recounts very particular anecdotes that go beyond soccer, touching on sports, politics (his friendship with Craxi), and… social issues.
Dossena, what is “Special Team”?
“A third sector organization that aims to take care of the community of athletes from all disciplines, both those who are still active and, above all, those who have retired. The president is Paolo Maldini. I understand that the public may think, ‘Well, they’re people who have thrown away their money,’ but we’re talking about individuals who are inactive for the country and who possess soft skills that are fundamental to the world of work. Sport cannot be just about winning a medal.“
And speaking of medals, they stole your most precious one: the 1982 World Cup gold. Has the Federation ever taken any action to get you another one?
”No, and I’m not making any appeals. Too much time has passed. But that’s how my life is: even when I won the first Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations with Ghana, my medal disappeared. Let’s just say that I don’t have to live on memories; my history has taught me that. A title won’t make my life any better. It would have been right to give it back to me at the time.”
On that Spanish expedition, however, you didn’t even get a minute of playing time. Do you regret that?
“That was also an absence, like the medal! And as number 10. But no, no regrets: Bearzot had his hierarchies but showed his esteem for Causio, which pissed Altobelli off a bit… It was the right thing to do.”
He won the national team well before the historic Scudetto with Sampdoria in 1991.
“All sorts of things happened in that dressing room, but every time we reached the limit, we didn’t go any further. Out of respect for one person: Paolo Mantovani. The greatest president I’ve ever met in my life, someone who always gave you the right answer. Then there were Vialli the tactician and Mancini the strategist… the former always came prepared, the latter had extraordinary instincts.”
My fondest memory of Vialli?
“A Sanremo Festival: he and I went to see the final, and the Pooh won with the song ‘Uomini soli’. Luca was also the ideal companion for a 15-day boat vacation.”
Then came his farewell to Doria: from a brace in the Champions League to Serie C1 with Perugia. Why?
“I owed President Mantovani a debt of gratitude: I made that choice to avoid becoming a burden. We met every week because he didn’t want to send me away, but I wanted to continue playing. I received an offer from Gaucci, so I made my decision. Whether it was Serie A, B, or C, I always wanted to feel free: freedom is the most important gift after health.”
And in fact, during his career, he traveled halfway around the world: Ghana, Saudi Arabia, Paraguay, Albania, Libya, Ethiopia.
“But the current moment is delicate. In my opinion, we are approaching an epoch-making revolution. Children born today will not be able to enjoy a similar experience. The political situation is complex everywhere.”
He has never hidden his passion for politics: a degree, candidacy with the PSI, Craxi…
“But I wouldn’t run again. I had the time to pursue change, I graduated in political science with a focus on history, and I never hid my friendship with Bettino Craxi. However, I learned the greatest lessons in history on the two occasions when I went to Hammamet with Cossiga and the President of the Tunisian Republic: I felt like a child in a toy store. But by running for office, I attracted a lot of criticism, and my position also caused coach Bearzot to take a harder line against me: he wanted a total athlete who expressed no interests other than soccer. But I wanted to know more.”
How did you become friends with Craxi?
“On ‘La Domenica Sportiva’, Beppe Viola said to me, ‘Ah, but you footballers don’t think, you don’t talk, you don’t even vote’. So I replied, ‘Of course I vote, for the Socialist Party: Bettino Craxi’. Then I received a card: ‘A maroon jersey and a red carnation are worth a friendship’. So we became friends.“
Is it true that as a kid you used to dribble past prostitutes?
”At Porta Palazzo, at midnight, I was faster than Usain Bolt. Not even he could catch me. I was 14 and played for Torino’s youth team. The tram left me 700 meters away: flying bottles, fights, everything. Today, Telefono Azzurro would have reported my mother and father, but I grew up. And I couldn’t talk to anyone about it because I was alone in my room at boarding school. But it was never a sacrifice. I had that passion: I went to bed and couldn’t wait to wake up and go back to training, without ever thinking that I would become a soccer player.“
How do you rate Sampdoria today?
”In recent years, they’ve got everything wrong. Player trading? Mission failed. Restoring a bankrupt club? Another failed mission. The soccer system needs to do more checks. It’s all absurd: many things are known but not said. I think it’s better to let a club go bankrupt than to delude people. Then tensions arise… and I’m referring to everything. People come in who have interests that are very different from passion.”
