The coach of Osijek compared Italy and HNL: ‘You play in front of 40,000 in Poljud, and then you go to Šibenik’

HRT is a special championship. There are ten clubs in it, and that is important for me. And everyone plays against everyone four times, as a double championship, it is difficult to compare that league with the Italian one, the words are Federica Coppitellija (40), coach of Osijek, who left his position as a coach in the youth club of Lecce this summer to come to Osijek.

It is Coppitelli’s first coaching job in senior football, and after a challenging start with the “white and blue” (without a win in the first five rounds of the HNL), the Italian consolidated his team and won six of the last seven games.

Coppitelli spoke to Radio TV Serie A and revealed how he got used to life in Osijek and Croatian football.

– My experience in Croatia is positive. In the first five games, we had problems with the game market, injuries and obligations in the Conference League. Now we have found form as the youngest team in the championship. We are growing and we are happy. In Croatia, you have three clubs with international status, namely Dinamo, Hajduk and Rijeka. Then there are others. HNL is a complicated championship and very popular in Croatia, and playing away from home is very difficult. You play one game in front of 40,000 spectators in Split, and then you arrive, for example, in Šibenik, where you find something that is, in a negative way, different than the last away game, and then you have to adapt. Against Hajduk you play against great players like Rakiti, but in other teams you play against players who are aware of the environment and know how to make your life difficult – said Coppitelli, and he was heard on the radio then asked if he had a chance to talk to Gattuso.

Šibenik: NK Osijek and HNK Šibenik met in the 10th round of SuperSport HNL |

Photo: Hrvoje Jelavic/PIXSELL

– We have three Italian coaches there. Me, Gennaro and Paolo Tramezzani. After the match with Hajduk, I spoke with Gennaro, and he agreed on the importance of the championship. We Italians have to adapt to a different culture. For example, it is impossible to imagine that he plays summer pasta with tomato sauce and chicken here before every game. Here, there is no strictness about diet at all. But that’s why you always have guys who are ready to work, without asking why or how.

Coppitelli was asked if there was a talented player for the Italian league in his ranks.

– We have Matkovi, born in 2006. Him moreć now želi all of Europe and it has a big price. But like many young players we have, he needs to go through a transition phase and mature. He has very important virtues, and we have other players who are waiting for brilliant careers.