ᴘᴀʀʟᴀʏ ᴰᴄ 🤌🏽

🚨Ricardo Calafiori on his conversation with Roberto Mancini during Italy’s 3-1 victory against France: 🗣️ Ricardo Calafiori: “As soon as there was a break in play, the coach called me over. He said, ‘Look at Olise. They wouldn’t want to take him out because he’s their best player. I want you to make sure he stays quiet.’ Then he pointed towards the space behind me and said, ‘Don’t follow him everywhere. That’s what he wants.’ That was the important part. Olise was constantly moving inside. If I followed him into midfield, I would open the channel for their winger and their midfielder to attack. So Mancini told me, ‘Let him come towards you, but don’t let him turn.’ That was basically my job. When he received the ball facing his own goal, I could give him a little space. The moment he tried to turn and face us, I had to be aggressive. Mancini kept shouting, ‘Don’t let him play forward!’ Because once Olise faces the goal, he can see everything. He can combine, he can carry the ball, he can find the full-back and he can put you under pressure. So we wanted him receiving backwards. That sounds simple, but against a player like him, it is difficult. He is always looking for that half-second where you lose concentration. At one point Mancini shouted, ‘You don’t need to win every ball. Just make him play the ball he doesn’t want to play.’ That stayed in my head. Because sometimes defending is not about making the tackle. It’s about controlling the decision. If I can force Olise backwards, he has already lost something. If I can force him towards the touchline, he has less space. If I can stop him receiving between the lines, France lose one of their biggest weapons. And that was the plan. We weren’t trying to make Olise disappear. We were trying to make him uncomfortable. Every time he received the ball, I wanted him thinking about me before he thought about attacking. And once you get a player thinking about the defender, you have already won something. That was what Mancini wanted. He didn’t ask me to play like a hero. He gave me one responsibility. ‘Make their best player hate this game.’ I understood exactly what he meant. And honestly, when the final whistle went, I looked at him and he just nodded. He didn’t need to say anything. We had done the job.”

From the San Siro stands. Italy’s first home win v France since 1962. Always special 💙

𝑩𝒖𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝑨𝒛𝒛𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒊 🌙💙🇮🇹 #ItaliaFrancia #NationsLeague #Nazionale #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro

Boss 👋 #ITAFRA #Azzurri #VivoAzzurro

Quanto eravamo forti.

WASHINGTON DC | *ACTIVE SHOOTER* | 1517 15TH ST NW @ VIDA FITNESS LOGAN CIRCLE | PD REPORTING ACTIVE SHOOTER - AT LEAST 3 VICTIMS SO FAR #BREAKING

Holy moly. Eli Drinkwitz absolutely nailed what’s gone wrong with college football.

📄 Rare document — The scouting report written by Venturi, the scout who discovered the legendary Alessandro Del Piero before bringing him to Juventus: “Every time he was involved in play, he made the right decision. He was comfortable using both feet and possessed excellent, natural technique, timing and vision of the game.” 𝓥𝓲𝓪 — @CurvaJ

Caron Butler says Kobe once erased the play a coach drew up while asking the huddle who wanted to be a part of history and to give him the ball and meet him in the tunnel to celebrate after he hits the game winner, and says in the middle of losing games by double digits Kobe would be thinking about how he would use that loss as fuel to win a championship “Man, it’s crazy because I have two. One I never told, and one I kind of touch on often. The time we were in Charlotte, I forget the coach, I don’t know if it was Rudy T or Frank Hamblen. They were drawing up a play, because Rudy T left halfway through the season, so it might have been Frank Hamblen.” “But whoever our coach was at the time, he was drawing up the play, and Kobe just kind of wiped the board real quick. He was like, ‘Hey, who wants to be part of history?’ And everybody was like, Lamar was like, ‘I want to be part of history.’ He’s like, ‘You take the ball out, I’m going to get open right here, throw it to me, everybody run out the damn tunnel.’” “And that’s just a true story, dog, like real time. Nobody knew where to go on the court. He was like, ‘He’s going to catch it somewhere right here, just get out of the way, run.’ And that’s what happened in real time.” “He was like, ‘Whoever wants to be part of history, throw me the ball. I’m going to be right here.’ But I think after everything, all the adversity that we were going through, the Shaq trade and all that, I never forget we were in Denver. This story I never told.” “He was just sitting there on the bench, and he just started closing his eyes and putting his hands up. I’m like, ‘Damn, what is he doing?’ Melvin Hunt, who was the assistant coach at the time, was there. And he just stood up, and I was processing all that because they were booing him and everything.” “He was like, ‘I’m going to win another three, four titles, and I want to win a championship in this building, in this arena.’ I was just like, damn, him being wired like that in that moment. We were getting our ass kicked by probably about 25, 30 points. He was just tapping in, and I’m trying to get through the game.” “I’m like, ‘I got 11 points, I’m trying to score 13.’ And he’s thinking about how good it’s going to be. I see chips, and I got to remember this. I got to add this on as my motivation during my process.” “It was just crazy how he was wired like that. And I never forget, he always told me, and this is what we would always have dialogue about, your second act, what’s next? Even when you’re in the process of what you’re doing, what’s next? Don’t celebrate that, all right, good, congratulations on your new deal, whatever, but what’s next?”