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Primavera defender Elio Capradossi has come a long way to reach Saturday evening's final between Alberto De Rossi's boys and Juventus.
A cruciate ligament tear last September was followed by numerous months on the sidelines with only one objective in mind: getting back to fitness in time for the business end of the Primavera championship.
Having achieved that, playing a key role in both Final Eight matches so far, the Giallorossi defender spoke to Roma TV about what's been on his mind going into the match against the Bianconeri.
"Ever since my operation, the mindset has always been that of making progress and trying not to give up so I'm able to get into the best shape possible for such an important game like the Scudetto final," said Capradossi, two days before the game.
"It would be nice to cap off an unlucky year with something as satisfying as a league title."
It was not your ordinary return to fitness for Capradossi, since in the treatment room with him was a certain Kevin Strootman, who was also fighting to get back into shape after his third spell under the knife.
"I was extremely lucky in my misfortune," the youngster said. "Strootman is a top guy, from a human point of view as well. He's the first to offer a hand or welcome you and he does the same with all the guys training in the first team.
"Tackling our injuries together day after day helped me a lot and having such a fantastic example of professionalism helps you to develop; you begin to understand more and more the mentality you need to reach a certain level. We helped each other every day. For me, being injured was something I've never had to deal with before and he helped me by explaining the stages I'd have to go through."
Capdradossi managed the full 90 minutes in the quarter-final against Virtus Entella plus 120 minutes in the semis against Inter. His foul in the area allowed the Nerazzurri to pull it back to 2-2 on the stroke of full-time, but he didn't let this bother him and played a focused additional 30 minutes before scoring one of the penalties that won the game for Roma.
"I was disappointed but in football you learn to keep going," he said. "I couldn't focus on that mistake – it was an isolated incident, it happened and many more will happen in my career. The team needed me to pitch in during extra time.
"We were ready to take the penalties: We struck them all perfectly and showed that we weren't afraid. We calmly walked up to the penalty spot and it went exactly how we'd intended.
"It wasn't easy for me to play 90 minutes and then 120 minutes in such a short space of time but thanks to the medical staff I was prepared and physically I'm doing very well."
The final against Fabio Grosso's Juventus outfit has been scheduled for Saturday 4 June at 20:30 CEST.
"It will be a hugely important game and personally it's my first-ever final," Capradossi added. "We cannot wait to go and get what we deserve and what we have fought for all year."
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