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Report nowEx-Nati star Ciriaco Sforza talks to blue Sport about how depression and anxiety gradually affected his life and how he is planning his coaching comeback.
As a player, Ciriaco Sforza was fearless. The Swiss even clashed with Bayern's then vice-president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge: "When you go to Bayern Munich, you can never be afraid," he summed up in the World Cup talk.
After his active career, Sforza switched directly to the coaching bench in 2006. He first coached FC Luzern for two years, before returning to Grasshoppers. After three seasons, the GC chapter came to an end in 2011.
Eventually, his body began to give out - depression and anxiety. "It all came on gradually," recalls Sforza. His battery had previously been in the "lowest range". He turned professional at the age of 16. Then came his career in Switzerland and abroad, followed by coaching training. Then there was the separation from his former wife.
The circumstances also led to "phases in which I said: 'I don't like it at all'". Although he looked forward to training as a GC coach, he was tired when he got home. "Then I lay down - there were also days when I didn't want to get up at all," explains the Wohlen native. This was out of "fear that something would happen to me".
He initially sought advice from those close to him before seeking professional psychological counseling. "That helped me enormously," emphasizes the now 56-year-old. There is nothing to be ashamed of, he says. "It's my story - it's not just some fantasy, it happened to me."
He is now "doing great" again, emphasizes the 79-time international. "I'm happy and healthy." That also applies to his family and children.
The fact that he has become "calmer and clearer" has helped him on the road to recovery. The psychologist also gave him an important piece of advice: "I learned to say no to certain things because I was often too sweet for others."
After a year without a club, he now wants to "attack again as a coach". He recently completed an apprenticeship as sports director at the SFL, but he still sees his future as a coach.
Ciri Sforza enjoys working with talented players.
Picture: Keystone
He has always been enthusiastic about working with young players. At GC, he was able to develop Yann Sommer, Steven Zuber, Izet Hajrovic, Nzuzi Toko and Haris Seferovic, while at Lucerne he was able to sell Fabian Lustenberger to Berlin after just a few months, according to Sforza.
At his next station, he is less focused on the club than on the people and their goals. "It simply has to be the right club with the right people and the right goals, then things will take off again."
