An Shuai’s daughter: My dad and Gattuso used to be very good friends, but they are no longer in contact

Katia Ancelotti, the daughter of Brazilian national team coach Ancelotti, accepted an exclusive interview. She talked about the unknown side of her father, the broken friendship with Gattuso, her views on the criticism of her younger brother Davide, and the past within the family.

Q: Katia Ancelotti, ask your father for a gift.

Cartier Ancelotti: I want to see him angry. Once, just once.

Question: Is he really what he appears to be: never losing his composure?

Cartier Ancelotti: They say it happens on the pitch and in the dressing room. My brother David and my husband Mino would tell stories about his crazy outbursts, a side of Dad I didn’t know existed. I hope to see him like that occasionally in life.

Q: What about in life?

Cartier Ancelotti: He doesn’t reveal himself. He never wanted to upset anyone. A person who is too calm may be detached. He tends to avoid conflict, but sometimes you have to take a stance, even if that stance may not satisfy everyone.

Q: Did he and Gattuso clear up the misunderstanding? He took over Napoli after Gattuso was fired but did not tell the other party. They had been very good friends.

Cartier Ancelotti: They have never been in contact or met. Dad was brooding over this and didn't pretend that nothing happened. Gattuso never called him again, maybe they will meet again at the World Cup, where we all hope Italy can go. The final between Brazil and Italy will be wonderful. The last time was in 1994, when my father was Sacchi's assistant. Where was Gattuso at that time? !

Q: This sentence is very sharp.

Cartier Ancelotti: This is fact and history.

Q: In Naples and when coaching Juventus in Turin, Antoine suffered rude treatment from the fans. How did he cope?

Cartier Ancelotti: He didn’t pay much attention. First, he doesn’t look at social media. Didn't he read or hear what people in Naples said about him coming to collect a pension? For example, that incident hurt me very much. He only gets sad when he can't do his job.

Q: Do all his former players love him?

Cartier Ancelotti: I have never heard a negative comment. However, from the stories I heard, when he was angry, he was terrifying. The most impressive thing about Dad is the person he is.

Q: What is the first childhood memory you can think of?

Cartier Ancelotti: At night, my father would put me on his knees to coax me to sleep. That feeling of protection has always stayed in my heart. I closed my eyes and he was out. He would put me on the bed very gently, afraid that the crunch of his broken knees would wake me.

Q: Will he go out at night?

Cartier Ancelotti: Oh yes, he has enjoyed the life he should have at his age, there is no doubt about it. He was engaged to my mother Louisa when he was very young. People tell me they were very much in love. But over time, their different personalities alienated them, and they eventually broke up.

Q: Children usually choose sides. Did you do that? If so, whose side are you on?

Cartier Ancelotti: He is both a father and a mother, and his presence can be felt at home. Mom, unfortunately she is no longer here, she was always away. She also played soccer, and later softball, and was a woman full of fun. In short, she is not the kind of mother you think of in the kitchen preparing snacks and worrying about shopping. I don’t have any memories of spending Christmas around the dinner table at home. At that time, I thought she was wrong. I thought she was strange and far away from me. But that wasn't the case, and as I got older I got to know her. I later understood that independence is a value the same as freedom. We spent our Christmases in Milanello, a beautiful family and an indelible memory for all of us.

Q: Then they separated.

Cartier Ancelotti: I was living in London at that time, and I felt their complaints from a distance. They had built a lot together, but at some point, separation was inevitable. They each reshaped their lives, and unfortunately, Mom's life was short.

Q: Were you with her when she died?

Cartier Ancelotti: We were in Liverpool and it was difficult to even travel. I returned to Italy, but I couldn't see her, couldn't touch her. In the final moments of her illness, she was alone. This is still a huge pain for me. I will always admire her fierce independence, she is a self-determined and fighting woman. I feel she is very close to me.

Question: Katya, is Ancelotti’s surname very heavy?

Katia Ancelotti: Not for me, my brother David got a lot of criticism because he started coaching with his dad. I think he struggled more than others precisely because people were always pointing fingers at him. Now he's coaching Botafogo on his own, and he's also in Brazil. It annoys me that they only talk about him and not the other sons who also coached under their father. Take Pioli, for example.

Q: Let’s go back to yourself...

Cartier Ancelotti: Because of this surname, I have to be very selective when making friends. At the end of the day, real friends are the oldest ones who have always been there and they don’t ask me for jerseys or tickets. If I sensed that they were interested, I would immediately break off the relationship. This attitude disgusts me.

Q: Do you have any other dreams?

Cartier Ancelotti: I want to be a journalist or a psychologist. In fact, I think there are similarities between the two.. But then... I had to shut up in front of reporters a million times, and then I gave up. Criticism is okay, but insult is not.

Q: Why did you stay in Madrid after your father separated from Real Madrid for the first time?

Cartier Ancelotti: This is an international city that I like. We've been wandering like gypsies, but kids need stability. Madrid can get you to Italy quickly. And Italy is home.

Q: You have been exposed to football since you were a child, from Reggiana to Milan to European giants. Do you think football has changed?

Cartier Ancelotti: It has become a business in every aspect, but if you look closely, it is still the same: everything revolves around the passion of the fans, around the emotion of a football match at any level. To this day, this remains at the core of what makes it all work.

Q: Dad and Brazil, your husband Mino is also on his team. How is he doing there?

Cartier Ancelotti: One thing impressed me deeply. Dad said it felt like going back in time to when he was a player. Some of the players in his national team also played for European giants, but when they returned to their homeland, they felt the call of their blood. They can't wait to train, to compete, to be together. They don’t get up from the dinner table immediately after lunch, dive into their phones, or leave their computers on all the time. This is where he likes it. All in all, Dad is a very simple man.

Q: Even though he is the most decorated coach in Europe, has he not changed?

Cartier Ancelotti: How could it change. Sure, he'd evolved at work, but as a person he was still the same: the "ass" who ate poorly, dressed so-so, couldn't drive a car well, and wouldn't listen to me. See, this is another thing I hate about him.

Question: An Shuai is now happy and immersed in love.

Cartier Ancelotti: He loved Marianne very much, his second wife. When I first saw them together, I looked at them and immediately thought: Love at 50 is such a wonderful thing. Twenty years later, they are still the same as before.

Q: People say Ancelotti is excellent, but also very lucky. What do you think?

Cartier Ancelotti: He is so lucky...! He's a lucky man, it's true. But this is no accident. Luck is something you have to earn on your own.

Q: Will you still go to the Bernabeu to watch Real Madrid games?

Cartier Ancelotti: If it happens, yes. Now I support my brother’s Botafogo as well. I cheer for my family's team, but the real passion remains Milan. Have you seen Modric, he still looks like a young man at 40 years old! What a wonderful person.

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