"I was unhappy in Naples. The city is fantastic, the people are too. But not playing made me unhappy. And when there was the possibility of coming to Cagliari, it took me very little, very little, to say yes." After his explosive debut on Saturday night at San Siro against Milan , the new Cagliari goalkeeper Elia Caprile officially introduced himself to the rossoblù fans from the press room of the "Crai Sport Center" in Assemini where he already seems like one of the locals.

He is happy with the choice he made, satisfied to say the least with his debut performance. "I don't know what my real possibilities are and I have no idea how high I can fly. My family taught me to work hard and I do this every day", says the goalkeeper from Verona with a humility that is at times disarming. " I have achieved my dream of playing in Serie A and this pushes me to work even harder . Only three years ago I was playing in front of a hundred people, on Saturday I was lucky enough to play at San Siro and play the game I did". Explosive impact, first in the locker room then between the posts. "I found a really good group".

The goal conceded by Pavoletti in the 94th minute when he was Bari's goalkeeper in the playoff final two years ago? "I admit, it hurt me a lot . Maybe that's why Leo didn't make any references when we met up again last week as teammates. He was very respectful." Caprile has remained particularly close to Bari, which is also why Sunday's match against Lecce is almost a derby for him. "It certainly won't be a match like the others, also because it will be my debut at Domus. But it will be important, above all, for Cagliari."

Coach Nicola was decisive for his arrival in Sardinia, with whom he already achieved salvation last season at Empoli. "Knowing the coach's way of playing already gives me some advantage," admits Caprile. " He worked hard to have me here and I'm happy to work with him. I hope to repay all this trust ."

© Riproduzione riservata