Thanks to questions from sports commentator Andrea Zenga, the former defender recalled his successful football career, the many trophies obtained and some disappointments, especially in the national team
Mark Iuliano, former defender who wore the Juventus shirt in Serie A for eight seasons, was interviewed from Andrea Zenga to LeoVegas.News. From his debut in Serie B with Salernitana to his transfer to his favorite team, Juventus, Iuliano relived his incredible career which saw him win scudetti, European cups and even come close to winning the European Championship with Italy in the unfortunate final against France at Euro 2000. The full interview is available on the digital channels of LeoVegas.News.
The beginning of his career was difficult until he arrived at Salernitana: " Salernitana it was my first love, also because all the teams in southern Italy had rejected me and I was already 16 years old. They took me but with a question mark, I spent a year and a half in the youth sector, then fortunately there was a coach who played defensively and I started playing a lot more, I was a starter in Serie C for two years." His journey took him on loan first to Bologna and then to Monza, the return to Salerno was particularly important: "I had one year left on my contract and luckily I had that year Delio rossi on the bench, he was the first coach to teach me to play football, I found myself in a team that played by heart, I had two wonderful years - one year with Delio Rossi and another with Franco Colomba - which gave me the opportunity to reach the Juventus, my favorite team."
The inclusion in a team full of champions was easier than expected because "they were the champions of Europe, it was all natural, it was a context full of champions and they were champions not only on the pitch but also as people. I arrived with Amoruso, Vieri, Zidane, Montero and we integrated immediately, because then Juve was an extended family.". The champion who impressed him the most”was Zinedine Zidane, he came from the '96 European Championship where he hadn't done well, he was very young and shy, we all wondered how he would fare at Juve and after the first practice match we looked at each other and said "this is a monster". We couldn't take the ball away from him, he read the game before the others, among the many champions I had the honor of playing with he was the most incredible of all."
The memories then move on to the most beautiful victories, such as the 1996 championship: "AND was the most exciting and the most important, then I scored the championship goal in the away match in Bergamo. The joy of winning immediately the first year will always remain in my heart, even if I also won other very important trophies, I am very attached to the first championship." Among the defeats, however, the three Champions League finals lost were difficult to digest, "in particular modo the first Champions League final, it was very painful because in the first year of Juve we had won all the trophies, the Champions League was the icing on the cake, we arrived as favorites but in the one-off match you never know how it will end, with the passing of all these years I have to admit that It's still not easy to accept that defeat. It was a terrible blow."
But the memories soften again when the date of is mentioned 5 May 2002, "a very sweet memory, because it was an unexpected championship, Inter had had an extraordinary championship, at the end of the season we had found a balance, we were in excellent physical shape and we tried, it was a special championship precisely because it was unexpected".
Iuliano made 19 appearances for the national team, including the unforgettable semi-final Italy-Holland, "one of the greatest victories in Italian football, because we faced a stratospheric team, full of champions, playing at home. Playing 10 per hundred minutes against this team was really tough, but we were a very united, grim team, we managed to take the game to extra time - where we had more chances - and on penalties, fate wanted them not to manage to score, thanks to Toldo in Superman version”. The memory of the round of 2002 of the XNUMX World Cup against South Korea and the referee's conduct was less pleasant Byron Moreno"It's incredible what happened that evening, it has nothing to do with football and it's uncommentable, I couldn't believe what was happening, expulsions, penalties, it wasn't football.". Closing on the best memory of his career, about which Iuliano has no doubts: “of course when I went to Juventus it was the best day. This was my dream as a child".
