ROME – Comments from Alberto DI MAGGIO (GRE), Fabrizio COCO (AUS) and Thomas PONTÉ (UKR) during the group phase of the Open Category at the FISTF World Cup in Rome on Saturday.
Alberto DI MAGGIO (GRE)
On his opening win against Kaspar BENNET (ENG):
“To be honest I didn’t play my best game. For me it was not a very good game but still if you win, you are happy, so I’m happy. But I can play better than that.
“You must be focused on the win – nothing else, not to play good.”
On which areas he needs to improve in:
“Shooting to be honest, because I shot too fast. And in the defence I see I have a little bit of stress, but it will change now. The next game will be better.”
On playing for Greece at a World Cup in Italy (he has a Greek mother and an Italian father):
“To be honest I am more than half Greek than Italian but I am always Italian. It feels always like home to play here. The Italians are happy that I play, even for Greece. Many of the Italians say, ‘We are with you because you are Italian.'”
Fabrizio COCO (AUS)
On coming back to his home country to play in the World Cup:
“It’s nice. It’s something that especially after Covid and the pandemic and everything that happened in the world, it’s something really special. I couldn’t wait to come here, see my family and friends, travel in Europe and Italy, and this is a beautiful location to play.”
On his first international trip since the outbreak of the pandemic:
“I left Italy to go back to Australia three days before they closed the borders for Covid so I was just on the border line. That was my last trip and now after Covid this is my first trip overseas.”
On his exuberant goal celebration against Justin LEROY (BEL):
“I believe that I should play more calm but I feel the pressure sometimes, especially when you play these kind of matches.
“But especially this goal, I screamed because I don’t know how I pulled that goal out, honestly, because three touches I was inside the goal. He didn’t even have the keeper in his hands, so I get excited when I score like this.”
Thomas PONTÉ (UKR)
On moving from France to Ukraine and establishing table football there:
“I moved to Ukraine two years ago because I’m a French teacher for Ukrainian people. I wanted to show the game to Ukrainians because they don’t know this game.
“In the school where I work, the Alliance Française in Odessa, I started with my students to play table football. In January we were 10 players and we wanted to do the first Ukrainian championships in June.
“But because of the war, I had to move at the end of February and then some players, more than 18 years (old), they have to stay in Ukraine, they can’t move.”
On representing Ukraine at this World Cup:
“I choose to play for Ukraine now because I lived in Ukraine, my wife is Ukrainian and I want to come back to Ukraine and I want to improve the game in Ukraine.
“For me it’s more to show that there are some Ukrainian players who can’t move from Ukraine and to honour them.”
FISTF News nl/spd