Genoa – At the end of Genoa-Bari, during the celebrations for promotion to Serie A, captain Mimmo Criscito read to the fans a farewell letter to football played. Below is the full text.
Dear football, it all adds up. I knew this time would comethe moment that every professional footballer sooner or later has to face.
Dear Football, I have so many words to say but I will try to be brief. Thanks to all the people who have been with me on this long and exciting journey. Thanks to my family, thanks to my wife, thanks to my children to whom I was able to pass on my same passion for Genoa.
Thanks Genoa. Along the way we said goodbye and embraced 5 times: every time we hugged again it was as beautiful as the first. Every time I’ve worn this shirt I’ve given my all, with love and sweat. Ending your career with a promotion to Serie A is certainly the best way to say goodbye with pride and emotion. Doing it in the team of my heart was what I always wanted. That 7 June 2003, when I wore the red and blue shirt for the first time, there was a Champions League atmosphere at the Ferraris. The same one I breathed in Odense, when I scored in front of thousands of fans who came as far as Denmark. And every other 289 times I’ve worn it, including today. I proudly wore yours, indeed our colours, even at the World Cup.
Thank you all the teammates, the presidents, the coaches, the people who work behind the scenes and in particular thanks to all the rossoblù ownership and management who made it possible for me to wear this shirt again for the last time. To close the circle.
Thank you fans: you are the beautiful soul of football. You welcomed me when I was a child, you saw me and made me grow. From Russia and Canada, in all my periods away from Genoa, I defied the time zone to watch Griffon matches and suffer with you. You, who took my hand every time I fought for this shirt, for better or for worse, on the wing or from the spot. With Juventus, in a derby… in the end it all comes back. The first step towards the ball, a look at the North, then kick without fear. After all, “it’s not by these details that you judge a player”.
My football career ends here, with a little lump but with the usual enthusiasm and the desire to start a new path with new goals. I stop playing but I won’t leave the world of football, because football is life for me.
Dear football, it all adds up. Memories too. Those will be enough for me to rethink how lucky he was to have spent this part of his life immersed in the most beautiful colors in the world. The red and the blue. Red like the passion of the fans, blue like the waves of the sea. Dear football, I love you. Dear Genoa, I love you.
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