Today he is an Inter star Ex-Sion pro Dimarco: "Constantin sent us to the military for a week as punishment"

Inter midfielder Federico Dimarco was a guest on a podcast. Among other things, he talked about an experience during his time at FC Sion.

Inter midfielder Federico Dimarco was a guest on Gianluca Gazzoli's podcast "Passa Dal BSMT" last Monday. In a conversation with the presenter that lasted almost an hour and a half, the 26-year-old recounted many episodes from his life, both professionally and privately.

The footballer, who can also play in defense, told many anecdotes about his very difficult intermezzo in Switzerland, when he was loaned from Inter to Sion by President Christian Constantin for the 2017-18 season.

"Nobody will believe it ..."

"I got off to a good start in Switzerland, but I broke my metatarsal in my first game. I was sidelined for four months, when I was 19 years old," Dimarco recalls. "I came back in January, for the second half of the Swiss championship, where there's a long winter break because it's cold."

"Nobody will believe it ... we were last or second to last and before the season resumed, the president had the nice idea of sending us for a week of military service. We spent a week with a French special forces unit. As punishment," the footballer continued.

"Things you only experience once in a lifetime"

The presenter, visibly surprised, wants to know if he heard correctly: "So you did the training that the special forces do in barracks?" Dimarco: "No barracks. It was outside. The whole team slept in sleeping bags in the field, in the open air. We woke up at 6 a.m. and then marched 5 or 6 kilometers. We walked until we ate from cans that we heated with a small stove or over a fire."

The Inter player then clarified that the "punishment" took place in France: "We even took a seven-hour bus ride to get there. They even let us shoot, but not with real weapons. Things you've never seen, things you only experience once in your life."

"Did the punishment work?"

When asked whether this "training" was part of the contract, the now almost 27-year-old (his birthday is on November 10) replied: "When they told me that, I didn't want to go. It wasn't in the contract, but if you don't go, you don't get paid by him (President Constantin, editor's note)."

In short, the presenter summarizes Gazzoli: "For him (Christian Constantin, editor's note) it was a measure because you were last. Imagine if that also happened in the big leagues ... But when you came back from the week, did you have more energy? Did it work?"

Dimarco's answer: "Yes, it worked, except that I argued with the coach and didn't play until the end of the year. The loan ended and I returned to Inter."

The time in Sion "was still a good experience"

During this already difficult time professionally, in which he suffered a serious injury, the footballer also had to pass a tough personal test: He lost a child with his girlfriend at the time, who is now his wife.

Despite the many difficulties, his stay in Switzerland was "still a good experience. Being away made me understand other cultures. I even learned French".

Then the confession: "I wanted to quit in Sion. I said to myself: 'Who is making me suffer like this? Then I looked inside myself. In the end, I only had one goal: to bring the people who didn't believe in me back to faith."

And without fear of being contradicted, he can say that he has succeeded. Since returning to Italy, he played for Parma and Verona before returning to Inter, his home club, where he has since become a key player in both Serie A and the Champions League.