Over tenyears in Udine have not altered his Roman roots and that is why this is no ordinary weekendfor Giampiero Pinzi, a product of Lazio's youth academy.
I am lucky that I still feel the passion forLazio, when we play against them I no longer feel in awe of them but thederbies are always and will always be very tense.
Pinzi mayhave been a teenager at the time but he was part of the Lazio squad that wonthe scudetto in the 1999/2000 season.
These dayshe is the vice-captain at Udinese. Although he admits he was a littleembarrassed when he scored against the team he has always supported.
When I scored I celebrated because I could hearmy supporters celebrating so I wanted to share this joy with them but I couldhave squared the ball in the middle where my teammate was lurking…
And as anygood Laziale will know, playing against AS Roma gets the blood flowing.
Over the years I have been able to keep myemotions under check a little more, before that I would light up as soon as Iwould see AS Roma I would burst into flames. These days I wouldn't say it is agame like any other but I certainly don't get so wound up by the game.
There isanother reason why Round 31 is a special weekend for Pinzi. Udinese take onChievo on Sunday in a meeting between the only two teams he has played for inhis professional career. The importance of his experience in Verona is evident when he mentions thecoaches who have influenced him the most.
Certainly De Canio the first year, he reallytook me in because it was a little traumatic for me leaving home at 19 yearsold and I was thrown into the Serie A TIM mix straight away, a littlesurprisingly. Then Spalletti was obviously another. He was the coach who reallytaught me a lot and made me improve a lot and we also reached some importantresults together. Di Carlo at Chievo was also a very important coach for mebecause he got my career back on track after an unlucky period with injuriesand then Guidolin, he has been like the icing on the cake.