‘Missing out on the World Cup hurts’: Italy’s Claudio Marchisio

The Little Prince I was born in Turin, in Italy, the city where Juventus Football Club is based. I’m a Juventus fan and so is my whole family. It all started for me in 1993, when I joined the youth section of the club at the age of seven. Apart from one year on loan to Empoli (based in Florence) when I was young, I’ve been at Juventus ever since.

My nickname came about in 2006, when I started training with the first team. I used to turn up smartly dressed, wearing a jacket and shirt, while the other players were far more casual. One of my teammates called me the Little Prince and it stuck.

In Italy, we have the concept of “bandiera”, flag bearers, players who have been with the club their whole life. It has always been my dream to be a bandiera at Juventus and I feel proud that I’ve been there so long. It’s not so easy to do that these days; players change teams for lots of reasons, whether it’s ambition or financial, so it’s very rare.

Winning ways Being at the same club for so long it’s impor­tant to stay motivated but it’s easier at Juventus, because there is always external pressure to succeed. We have to keep winning every year – both the old players and new players feel that. It will be difficult to win another seven league titles in a row (Juventus were crowned Serie A champions for the seventh consecutive year in 2018). It may never happen again, but it is in the DNA of the club to never be satisfied.

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World Cup woes I’ve won everything there is to win in Italy, but Juventus has yet to open an account with the Champions League. We have reached the final twice in the past four years. I feel sad for the fans, the team and everyone around the club that we haven’t won the Champions League.