Acerbi delight with Italy debut after cancer return

The Sassuolo defender was diagnosed with testicular cancer soon after joining the club last summer, but the tumour returned following surgery,

He has since undergone successful chemotherapy, returning for his club at the start of this season, and earning his Italy debut in the friendly against Albania this week.

“Conte puts a lot of energy into the game, almost as if he was playing with us! We already know what we need to do, but he’s like the 12th man,” the defender told Rai Sport after the 1-0 win.

Acerbi was diagnosed with testicular cancer in June 2013, then the illness returned in December, but he was given the all-clear to resume playing this season.

“With everything I went through, I am happy and proud, but I have objectives and when I’ve reached them I will be satisfied. What are they? I won’t tell.

“If you want to reach your targets, then you need to work hard, sweat and have that hunger within you. If you don’t have it in you, then it’s impossible to get there.”

Acerbi is only 26, but his life experience could help the players Conte criticised for not working hard enough.

“Where I play at Sassuolo there are many talented young players with great prospects, but they have to keep their feet on the ground. As I’ve seen, you can struggle to climb up and then in a moment you fall straight back down.

“I understood these things when going through chemo, but even before then I watched those who put the effort in. At times you need to make mistakes to learn, so the players need to mature at their own pace and understand things their way.”

Another debutant was on target this evening, as Sampdoria striker Stefano Okaka got the decisive goal.

“Okaka did well to score. We had a good performance overall against a defensive and well-organised team, so I think it’s a deserved victory. We can all go back to our clubs happy.

“It was a bit odd to see the whole stadium in red, almost as if we were playing away from home.”

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