At 3:45am Beijing time, the 16th round of Serie A is about to ignite, and Lazio will start a fierce battle with city rival Inter Milan in their own stadium. In this tense atmosphere, Lazio player Nuno Tavares was interviewed by the club, talking about his time at Lazio and his vision for the future.
Talking about how Coach Baroni ignited the team's spirit, Tavares was full of praise: "It's all due to the coach's leadership art. He is humble and low key, he manages the team with great wisdom and has high expectations for each player. There is a harmonious atmosphere in the locker room, and everyone knows that if they give their best, they can win the opportunity."
When asked about his favorite player in the same position in Serie A, Tavares didn't hesitate to mention Fiorentina's Dodo: "To be honest, I don't watch a lot of matches, but if I had to mention one it would be Dodo without a doubt."
Speaking of the improving stars among his teammates, Tavares was impressed with Dele Bashiru: "That's a bit of a tricky question, after all, we don't have a shortage of good players on the team. However, I was impressed by Dele Bashiru's impact when he was in possession of the ball and he impressed me as a player."
Regarding his individual performance in the game, Tavares is more concerned with team victories: "I scored a lot of goals when I was at Marseille, but I cared more about the team winning more games than scoring goals or assists. I can only feel really happy if the team wins."
Reflecting on the perfect game of his career, Tavares recalled Benfica's victory in the UEFA Cup: "I will recall the game I played for Benfica in the UEFA Cup, where we won 3-0 at home against Standard Liege and I contributed an assist. At Lazio, I had dreams of playing against Milan, but unfortunately we didn't win."
Tavares, who has played with many top players, believes that Ödgö is exceptional: "Of course, there are many! Zaca, Martinelli, Otamendi, for example ...... but Ödgö is truly exceptional."
Talking about which past players he would like to play with in the green, Tavares has a soft spot for Ronaldinho: "There are a lot of people I would like to play with, but I've always had a soft spot for Ronaldinho."
Besides soccer, Tavares is also interested in cello and the NBA. In Italy, he is exploring local customs, but for now his hobbies remain the NBA and party music: "I'm exploring Rome and Italian customs, but it's still early days. My hobbies are the ones you mentioned, like the NBA and listening to party music. Italian singers? At the moment I'm not listening (laughs)."
Tavares also revealed his cooking and dressing preferences, "I like to cook and not get bored. For example, before coming here, I prepared dinner for myself and I cook a little bit of everything. For dressing, I feel like I rely on clothes and all kinds of accessories! I like to be elegant all the time, it's important to me."
As for his hairstyle, Tavares said he will adjust it in due time, "I've always kept the same hairstyle, but I didn't like it too much the day before the game, and I'll tweak it a little bit tonight (laughs)."
Finally, Tavares spoke about his dreams at Lazio: "I want to win trophies and achieve great results with Lazio. In this way I believe it will also be good on a personal level. We are a united team with a good squad to achieve our goals. We know we play for a great club with incredible fans. We want to make them happy."
