At first 26-year-old Federico Baschirotto did not realize that he was being called by national coach Roberto Mancini. The Lecce defender will join Italy for the final round of the Nations League, but did not see his debut in La Squadra Azzurra coming.
Debutant let the phone ring: It turned out to be the national coach
Speaking to the newspaper Cronache di Spogliatoio, Baschirotto said he received a call from an unknown number on Monday. He revealed, “I was walking out of a store when my phone rang. The number was not in my contacts. I thought someone wanted to congratulate me on the win against Monza, or it was a telephone salesman.”
It turned out that Mancini was trying to get him on the phone. “I thought: if it’s important, they’ll call back. Two minutes later, the same number called again. I picked up and heard, ‘With the manager.’ I do recognize my manager’s voice, I speak to him every day. Maybe it was a former manager? So I asked, ‘Which manager?’ It turned out to be the national coach.”
The defender did not believe his ears and heard that he was allowed to go to the Nations League. Mancini also congratulated him on achieving Serie A retention with Lecce. “The national coach asked if I was available. So I said, ‘Available? Tell me where I need to be and when, and I’ll even walk if I need to’.”
The development of Federico Baschirotto is going very fast. Four years ago he was still happily frolicking in Serie D and now he has suddenly been called up for the Italy national team. The central defender goes with Italy to the final battle of the Nations League, in which the Netherlands also participates.
Serie D four years ago and now Baschirotto is entering the Nations League with Italy
Baschirotto is a 26-year-old Italian employed by Lecce. The big muscle bundle grew up with his parents in the countryside near Verona. There he had to help his parents grow crops on a daily basis. “And keeping pigs, loading, unloading. That makes you physically strong, because it’s really hard and hard work,” he recently told TLN.
The central defender thinks that this gives him an advantage over other players. “It’s not like you’re typing in a chair in the office. I don’t have the exceptional talent of Paulo Dybala, so I have to work twice as hard to maybe one day reach that level,” he said.
Comparison with Schwarzenegger
Baschirotto comes from Cremonese’s youth, but never broke through there. Four years ago he played with Viterbese in Serie D. From Ascoli he worked his way up in Italy and last summer he signed with Lecce. There he was a starting player from the first moment. The robust Italian soon made an impression at the highest level, especially with his physique and header power.
In Italy, he is therefore regularly compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger in terms of stature, something he has absolutely no problem with. He admits, “I’m actually happy with the Schwarzenegger equation because I can show off my physique.” Partly because of this, he was already three times accurate this season. He added, “My instincts allow me to anticipate where the ball will go. You could say it’s a kind of attraction.”
