APPIANO GENTILE - Tonight we get to know Alvaro 'El Palito' Pereira, guest on Inter Channel's Prima Serata. The Uruguayan tells how "Pupi's his best mate, because we're always together, but I also get on very well with Gargano and Guarin."
"I can play anywhere on the left," says Pereira when asked about his preferred position. "I played as a fullback for many years in Portugal but, because I'm good going forward, it's better if I played in a slightly more advanced role. Of course I need to adapt to the situation and what the coach asks of me."
Pereira is then played recordings of what Andrea Stramaccioni had to say about him in a recent press conference: "I don't recall another player who joined from a foreign league and instantly performed as well as he has. Alvaro, for his position - a left-sided player who can play at the back or further forward - represented the best deal in the transfer market. I'm happy and - given the choice - I'd sign him all over again, but let's give him time." Pereira smiled, explaining: "You can work better knowing that. I feel I've got the support of everyone at the club and that's important. Do I feel pressure? It's not a term I like, pressure is those working to put food on the table for their families. I prefer to talk about responsibility and we work simply to win and make our fans happy."
A married father of two (Matteo, 4 and Lucio, 6), Pereira talks about his family, as well as what it meant to join Inter: "In my first press conference I said that for us Uruguayans, we all dream of playing for Inter as kids. We grew up watching legends like Ruben Sosa and Alvaro Recoba, and Inter are Inter. Coming here to train every day is a dream come true."
Next there's a phone call from the man who first brought Alvaro Pereira to Europe, Maurizio Trombetta, who coached the Uruguayan defender at Romanian side Cluj in 2008/09: "We both arrived in Romania at the same time and in every training session he said I needed to work on tactics, and I told him I didn't like them!" Trombetta meanwhile explained how he taught Pereira the differences between South American and European football: "He was very good at applying himself. At Cluj he played left-back as part of a back four and was great going forward, so the first thing we had to work on was his defensive work. He's very attentive, and he was humble enough to learn new things, something which isn't easy when you've already played for several years at the top level."
'El Palito' was then asked about the differences between Portuguese football and Serie A: "I think football's the same language but tactically there are significant differences. In Portugal you have more freedom, there are just four or five good teams. In Italy, however, every match and opponent are almost all as difficult as one another."
"It's the best feeling there is in football, but winning is always the most important thing." This was how Pereira described scoring goals before listing the players he looked up to, "among my idols - Ruben Sosa, Alvaro Recoba, Roberto Carlos - only Ernesto Francescoli didn't play for Inter."
"Italy and South America have a lot in common." Prima Serata looked back on Pereira' career to date, which has been littered with success: "I joined Cluj, my first club in Europe and I won the Romanian Cup. Then I moved to Porto and we won 8 titles in three seasons, a brilliant team and a school of football. With the national team we finished third in the last World Cup and won the Copa America. Imagine how great it was to get our hands on that for the first time in 17 years..."
"Do I think we can win the Scudetto? Why not? That's what we're working towards." And after his playing career? "I like coaching, I don't know if I can see myself in charge of a first team but I enjoy working with youngsters and I follow football and its stars all over the world. I like to study our opponents - whether I play or not - and I watch all our opponents, not just the team we're about to face. I feel the need to so."
