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Bologna is a fantastic metropolis famend for its culinary experience, medieval structure, and real Italian tradition. Traditionally, it hasn’t been well-known on the worldwide stage for its soccer. Nonetheless, this notion might shift on Wednesday night time.
The membership from Emilia-Romagna, which dominated Italian soccer within the Thirties, has been inactive for over fifty years, with their final trophy received in 1974. Defying expectations, they certified for the Champions League this season and at the moment are on the point of attaining a fair better feat.
Bologna will face AC Milan within the Coppa Italia closing on Wednesday night at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico. A victory would offer their metropolis with probably the most important celebration in trendy historical past, surpassing final 12 months’s Piazza Maggiore festivities that celebrated their entry into European elite competitors.
‘I’m actually motivated. Final 12 months we skilled an incredible feast within the metropolis with all of the followers who got here once we certified for the Champions League. But when we will deliver an actual prize, a trophy, to this metropolis, the followers will likely be much more pleased with us. We need to deliver it residence to Bologna.
‘The meals right here is wonderful, man. In Bologna they know tips on how to prepare dinner! In Italy on the whole, the meals is actually good however Bologna… the town and individuals are very nice. A variety of respect once they method you. It’s a very nice place to dwell, a historic metropolis with plenty of very nice monuments.’
Sam Beukema is flourishing at Bologna and eyeing bringing the Coppa Italia trophy residence
The defender had the chance to make himself recognized to Premier League viewers when his facet tangled with Aston Villa within the Champions League
However the participant is having fun with his time at Bologna regardless of hyperlinks to a lot of prime European golf equipment
Beukema has been linked to Premier League golf equipment in current months with Liverpool credited with an curiosity from Italian studies, whereas Actual Madrid and Atletico Madrid have additionally been mooted as a possible vacation spot.
For now, although, he’s loving life in Bologna and is barely targeted on profitable the Coppa Italia.
One of the vital attention-grabbing episodes of the defender’s profession was when he went to the home of Liverpool boss Arne Slot. Beukema was at Go Forward Eagles and had a call to make over his subsequent membership, Feyenoord or AZ Alkmaar.
He explains: ‘I went spherical to his home. Once I moved from Go Forward Eagles to AZ, it was between AZ and Feyenoord, each have been actually eager about me. I talked with each of them. At that time Arne Slot was about to be the brand new coach of Feyenoord.
‘He invited me to his place, we had a very good dialog. You possibly can inform he was a very good coach despite the fact that I didn’t play with him.
‘The way in which he spoke to me, the way in which he confirmed me some clips of me, I assumed, “Wow, I didn’t consider that earlier than, he thinks about soccer in a different way”. However in that interval there have been uncertainties at Feyenoord so I made my selection for AZ and by no means doubted it.’
Beukema was as soon as within the prime 10 on this planet at taking part in FIFA and he nonetheless enjoys catching up together with his Dutch friends on the PlayStation, when he isn’t sampling the Italian delicacies across the metropolis.
One spotlight of this season was taking part in at grand stadiums like Anfield and Villa Park within the Champions League and he managed to have a catch-up together with his idol, Virgil van Dijk.
Among the many advantages of transferring to Bologna has been the town itself – and its well-known delicacies
Earlier than his time at AZ Alkmaar, Beukema discovered himself catching the attention of then-Feyenoord supervisor Arne Slot
The Liverpool boss will likely be seeking to re-organise his ranks throughout the upcoming window
Beukema is a big admirer of Liverpool’s captain – and his compatriot – Virgil van Dijk
‘Among the finest defenders on this planet proper now could be Van Dijk, in fact,’ he says. ‘He’s Dutch so I look as much as him. He’s, I believe, the perfect. He’s a contemporary defender, I additionally like Ruben Dias and Alessandro Bastoni. They’re the three I search for.
‘I spoke a bit with Virgil at Anfield after the sport. It was good to talk a bit bit with him and the opposite Dutch guys.
‘It’s humorous to see (the Dutch gamers doing so properly round Europe). It’s very nice to see. It says loads in regards to the gamers that we’ve got within the Netherlands. Now we have numerous actually good gamers of a prime degree. It’s very nice to see them doing properly round Europe.’
Beukema, although he has not been capped but by the Netherlands, is hopeful that he’ll quickly be in that class – and profitable the Coppa Italia will definitely assist with that.
He provides: ‘I began taking part in soccer at six years outdated, I grew up with a ball at my ft. It was at all times my dream to turn into a footballer, like each different little child. That I now play soccer in Serie A and performed my first Champions League season as properly, it’s a dream come true.
‘Now we have a very, actually particular group at Bologna. I really feel at residence already, it’s a actually heat membership and everyone seems to be so concerned from the fabric guys to the ladies who prepare dinner to the gamers – we’re one group and one group. That’s our energy, I believe.
‘Since I arrived, it went like this with the membership (factors upwards). However now we need to hold going. It has been an incredible journey to date however we need to proceed that.’
