Shop
“It was a very special day,” the former Brazilian midfielder acknowledged. “Seeing the stadium again brought back so many memories. I felt my heart start pounding.
“Roma is a part of my life because I spent three amazing years here.
“I'd spoken to [Giuseppe] Giannini, [Roberto] Pruzzo, [Odoacre] Chierico and [Stefano] Desideri on the phone beforehand so I was already excited about coming.”
Cerezo's emotion was apparent as he was formally inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday evening – a moment Giallorossi fans are unlikely to forget in a hurry, just as they haven't forgotten his vision and tireless running in a Roma shirt between 1983 and 1986.
“It's three years we're talking about, not three days. I try to remember all the good things in my life and I had lots of those here at Roma. I was playing in a great team with fantastic team-mates and a magnificent Curva that always gave us so much energy.”
On his relationship with Rome and Romans
“My jaw dropped as soon as I arrived at the airport. There were 2000 people waiting for me and I couldn't make head nor tail of it all. I knew very little about Europe and its customs, how people lived or what they ate, but I found Romans to be very similar to Brazilians. If we lost a game they'd insult us but then they'd invite us for coffee.”
On Paulo Roberto Falcao
“You have to get to know Paulo to really understand him. He's very different to me – perhaps that's why we got on so well! If I went right, he'd go left. We both got results though. We're great friends.”
On president Dino Viola
“He offered me a huge opportunity to come and play in Europe when I was 28. It wasn't just a great team I was joining but a great club too. He loved Trigoria: he'd go round to turn off the lights and inspect the pitches.”
On Nils Liedholm
“The Baron was smart – the smartest guy I've ever met. He knew how do manage the group. He could surround himself with top players because he knew how to live alongside them. If you had a bad game, he'd pull you over to one side on Monday and say, 'You played well, Cerezo, but we're going to do a bit more work on the training ground this week.' Like Tele Santana, he wanted the game played entirely towards the opposition's goal.”
On why the fans loved him
“I always used to run my socks off and give everything on the pitch. Perhaps it was my enthusiasm: you can't enjoy life without enthusiasm.”
Imperium Partners
Centurion Partners
