APPIANO GENTILE – Danilo D'Ambrosio was the first guest on Inter Channel's new show, Caffè doppio.
The full-back sat down for a coffee and a chat with Roberto Scarpini, offering some revealing insights into his life away from the pitch – both with Inter and in his home life.
He began by describing his typical day: "When we train at 11 o'clock I set my alarm for 8. I leave home at 8:30 and then have breakfast at the training ground. I stay behind for an extra 45 minutes or so at the end of the session to do some injury-prevention exercises. I'm a great a believer in hard work – you have to put in the effort if you want to be successful.”
Inter have been reaping the rewards for their hard work in recent weeks: Tuesday's Coppa Italia defeat of Bologna was their seventh straight win in all competitions.
“We're doing better but we haven't achieved anything yet. We have to keep pushing ourselves even harder and try to reach the target we all want. Winning games helps create a strong team spirit and it also helps you to train better."
On his preferred position: "I've played at centre-back a couple of times and I enjoyed it. My natural position is at full-back but I wouldn't mind playing in central defence one day.”
Meanwhile, life in the D'Ambrosio household could hardly be rosier. Danilo got married last summer and his wife is now expecting his first child.
“I proposed to Enza on 21 September 2015 with a flash mob organised in Piazza Duomo. It came as a complete surprise to her – she wasn't expecting anything! Luckily she said yes...
“We met at a party through a friend years ago when I was at Fiorentina. I actually had the chance to go to Chelsea but my parents didn't want to split up the family.
“Our boy Leonardo is due on 12 March. It hasn't sunk in properly yet but I'm already getting excited just looking at the baby suits!”
The Nerazzurri No.33 also revealed what he gets up to the night before a match.
“I've never been one for the PlayStation, I have to say. I might watch a film or chat with Eder, my room-mate. Sometimes six or seven of us will get together and have a game of cards. It's fun – we've got a great group of lads.”
Finally, D'Ambrosio offered his thoughts on Sunday's visit to Palermo – a match he insists is not to be taken lightly regardless of the Sicilian side's struggles this season.
“Often it's the games which look easy on paper that turn out to be the trickiest. Inter haven't won at Palermo since 2010 so we can't take anything for granted. We have to go out there and play the same way we've been playing recently.
“We've improved loads. If you look at the stats, we're running more than other teams and we've got a different mentality now – everyone's working really hard for each other.
“We're trying to keep things as tight as possible at the back because we know that with the offensive arsenal at our disposal we're bound to score sooner or later.”
