MILAN - Javier Zanetti and Gianni Rotta, authors of the book "Giocare da Uomo", were presented with the 2013 Gianni Brera Award. The ceremony was conducted by Mino Taveri, and Roberto Maroni, President of the Region of Lombardy, welcomed all the sports personalities present before opening the ceremony at the Giovanni Testori Auditorium, located in the Piazza Citta di Lombardia, Milan. The award was presented to Javier Zanetti and Gianni Riotta with the following address:
"Captain and gentleman. These two words would suffice to sum up the life and career of Javier Zanetti. But behind all those tireless runs down the flank, the competitive streak and the always-perfect hair, there’s much more. There’s a man who suffered as a youngster, who fell and managed to pick himself up until he was able to raise the most important trophies there are in the sport of football.
"Gianni Riotta went to discover this man, looking beyond the blue and black shirt and getting him to open up his heart. From the difficult beginnings to the stellar successes, a portrait emerges of a personality that has never lost his sense of humility and the awareness of his own origins. In fact, he has always drawn strength from these roots to begin again after coming up against the adversities both sport and life have thrown his way.
"It’s an honour to present the Brera Award to Javier Zanetti, with the hope that many youngsters will follow his example both on and off the pitch. A special thanks goes out to Gianni Riotta, who decided to tell the story of such a great man – or should I say, gentleman."
Zanetti’s words from the stage: "Are there still many more pages I want to add to this book? Well, by now I don’t think there are too many left… [smiling]. I’m doing very well and I’ve recovered from this injury, the first serious one in my entire career. My desire was to return to play at least one more game, and I managed to do it. We’ll see how things go. What do I have in mind? I’d really like to end this season, see how I feel and then talk to the new ownership to see what they have in mind themselves.
"I’d certainly like to stay a part of this Nerazzurri family. Inter is my home and I’d like to keep making myself useful in another position. But there’s time for this. Now we have to confront this difficult period the team is going through and think only about the good of the club."
