Cassano: “Milan treat you like a King!”

ANTONIO CASSANO is happy with life at Milan and reveals what happened on that night on October 29.

Cassano had a very unusual year: in the summer it was thought he would leave, then he starred in Milan’s attack, but afterwards his body betrayed him and he was forced to sit out 5 months following a heart attack.

Now Fantantonio is fit again, and is getting ready to the Euro’s with Italy where he’ll need to lead Italy. The forward has given Milan Channel telling about what he has experienced with the Rossoneri so far.

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“I like to help others and so I don’t really enjoy talking about myself,” Cassano said at the beginning of the interview. “I am comfortable here with everyone, from the youngsters to the most senior player. When it comes to potential, in my opinion Alexandre Pato is the second-best player in the world after Lionel Messi.

“I only know how to talk about football, as I have no alternatives! I follow every League and that causes some rows with my wife (water polo player Carolina Marcialis), because I’d never stop watching football.

“When I had been at Milan for 10 days it felt like Paradise, but now it’s even better. Everyone here treats you like a king, both at Milanello and on the pitch. I don’t see how you can leave this place. Those who leave Milan tend to immediately regret it. Once Berlusconi told me that I could always count on him, and even call him at night. He flattered me. Berlusconi is a creative type. You could say that he’s a number 10. He loves to see beautiful football. I want to stay here at Milan. I don’t want to do anything to leave. I can’t make mistakes here – everything is perfect,” added Cassano who fell out with many people in the past.

“I will always love Bari, both the city and the club. And also Sampdoria. They will always be in my heart.

“Problems with Milan this summer? The day of Italy-Spain was a difficult time, I played little, I was not very happy and I was not fit. I talked a lot with Adriano Galliani. I wanted to leave, but he always told me that if I remained professional, I would never have any problems here. After the match with Spain, Galliani said: ‘I will now tie him here, I was right’ and from there it went fine.” Cassano put in a MOTM performance then.

Cassano later spoke about that night after the Roma game in which he suffered a mini stroke which meant he’d need to sit out five months. Antonio, fighting the tears, said he was thinking about his family.

“I felt good after the Roma game and was happy to be on the pitch, even if I’d only come off the bench. On the plane I caused absolute chaos and felt great,” the 29-year-old said. “All of a sudden after stepping off the bus that transports you from the plane to the terminal, I felt really dizzy and couldn’t see out of my left eye. The doctor said he’d take me to hospital, but I didn’t want to and we argued about it for half an hour.

“When we finally decided, on the journey to the hospital I started having problems speaking. I thought but the words would not come out. That moment I thought about my son, to see him one more time…

“I was so pleased to receive so much affection from everyone, both in the football world and outside of it. They had understood I am crazy, but still honest and authentic. My son and my wife were the fundamental elements for me and I always asked the doctors to tell me the truth. I am glad the medics were honest.

“I am not a believer in God, but before I used to take His name in vain a lot. After the heart problem, I can’t seem to do it anymore, not even in thought. Maybe it’s destiny I came back to the field just before Easter.”

Milan are set to start a new era. Alessandro Nesta, Gennaro Gattuso and Filippo Inzaghi have already confirmed their departures while other players are also set to leave Milan. “It’s very sad for me, as these lads are abandoning us and will regret it,” Cassano said. “It’s true there are times in which everyone has to make choices, as Nesta explained. I believe that he could’ve still done well here by cutting down on the number of games, but it was his decision and a big loss to us. I’d like to talk him into changing his mind.

“The Zlatan Ibrahimovic-Antonio Cassano partnership? When we’ve got the ball, it’s like we won’t let others into our playpen,” said the Italy man. “We have two strange heads on our shoulders, but we get along and love to play together. Ibra does well to fire up Milan. He can do what he wants, as long as he scores!”

Milan lost the Scudetto to Juventus, who have already stated they are better than Milan. But Fantantonio believes the Rossoneri have more quality than Juventus, but were just unlucky and inconsistent.

The former Real Madrid man player said: “Firstly, we have to congratulate Juve. We had a billion injuries, without which we’d have won with by a six or seven-point margin. We are by far the strongest team in Italy but we did not have consistency like Juve. Milan went out to win it all, and we will give our all next year.”

Cassano, who also said he hopes to do well in the Euro’s, concluded by saying “Forever, Forza Milan!”