Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini spoke about his charity work, the influence of Pep Guardiola on Italian football and why Antonio Conte is one of the best.

Giorgio Chiellini explodes with laughter. He recalls how the former Juventus companion, and now Chelsea striker Alvaro Morata, described the training with Giorgio: "It's like you go into a cage with a hungry gorilla and try to take away her food".

Many attackers will agree with this comparison. Chiellini is already 33, but he still remains part of the defense of Juventus, which from November 20, missed only one goal in 15 games.

For 22 hours of the game "bianco-neri" confronted Barcelona, ??Inter, Roma and Napoli. Harry Kane, it seems, sets the records in batches every week, but the fight with Juventus' defense promises to be for him the toughest test of the season at the moment.

Chiellini, as usual - in the heart of this. This educated in the Italian tradition, an uncompromising defender with the character of a street fighter.

He four times broke his nose, celebrates goals, hitting himself in the chest like King Kong, and on memories of how Luis Suarez bit him on the World Cup 2014 with a shoulder shrug and says: "it happens, it happens".

"So far, I have four fractures of the nose. At least until next week! The problem is that as soon as there is a small chance to score yourself or prevent it from doing to the opponent - I do not control myself ".

The image of the gladiator on the field, however, does not correspond to the true nature of Giorgio. After an hour of conversation with him it turns out that this is one of the most profound athletes.

When Juan Mata founded the Common Goal charity initiative (with athletes taking 1% of their salaries for charity), Chiellini joined her one of the first.

In Italy, Giorgio has long been considered one of the main football sponsors. In his native Livorno, he provides financial support to the theater, in which actors with disabilities play.

Also Chiellini is one of the co-founders of the Insuperabili charitable foundation, which helps to play sports for children with limited physical abilities. It all started with one initiative in Turin, and now the fund has 15 offices throughout Italy.

"I saw Juan's interview and saw that the movement was joined by Mats Hummels. I wrote them on the site, but at first the staff thought that I was a 15-year-old student who breeds them. I had to call Facetime to prove that I was a real Chiellini! ".

"I do not know if I can change anything, but I just want to give the children a smile. Do not describe in words how I like it. We must be idols, it is very important. Children follow everything we say and do. I see many children whose destiny is predetermined from birth. I want to give them a chance to determine their own lives ".

Mata last year talked about social responsibility, about the crazy commercialization of football and "stupid" salaries. Chiellini has a bachelor's degree in economics and a master's degree in business administration.

"Anxiety" is not the right word to describe our wealth, "Giorgio says.. - I'm making sacrifices and I never think that I'm not worthy to earn so much.. But I understand that I was lucky and I should use this platform to help others ".

"You can not only help with money. This can be a short video, a short message, a meeting. Just show concern. I traveled to many countries of the world. I saw the most terrible regions of South Africa and Brazil. I stayed in Thailand, where I lived in a five-star hotel. And as you pass the corner - and now you've seen people sleeping right on the street, on mattresses, in poverty. They washed clothes in the river, but it was rainwater. Common Goal - international movement. So far I'm the only Italian in it, but I hope that more players will join soon ".

For the first time to compare Giorgio with King Kong began his friend in Livorno. Like the character of Merian Cooper, Chiellini is a noble savage.

"I have a double identity. On the pitch, I have to be such as to perform at the top level. I was not born very gifted technically. I needed to work to progress. Hundreds of players are gifted technically and physically, but very few people use it. It is necessary to have the desire ".

"I was never the best in my age group. I was like an ugly duckling, because I was not beautiful, but I always felt better. And this is my main skill. I am 33, but I spend the best season in my career. There is no secret: only passion and work ".

Mention of passion translates the conversation to the topic of the current coach Chelsea Antonio Conte, with whom Giorgio worked five years in Juventus and the Italian team.

"Italian passion," Chiellini says, puffing her cheeks. - She has not only during the matches. He is so daily, on every workout. Antonio looks like a sergeant to the police. We felt something especially with him in such an atmosphere - three years in Juventus and two more in the Italian team ".

"When you finish training, you're dead. Not tired - dead. The only reason you do this is because you believe in Comte. We stayed 40 days in France and seemed to be in another world. You are 100% with him. Conte creates an atmosphere, charges everyone with energy. Of course, he is one of the best ".

After the departure of Comte, Italy is going through a decline. Chiellini was part of the team that could not make it to the World Cup.

Giorgio is grimacing. "To be honest, it will be like a bone in the throat. It is difficult to call this month a good one. I will watch some matches, check accounts ... But I do not even know how it is to sit and watch the World Cup at home ".

Chiellini calls on his compatriots to return to the basics.

"Pep Guardiola spoiled and destroyed the Italian defenders," he says..

"Guardiola is a great coach with great ideas, but the Italian coaches started trying to copy him without having the right knowledge. Over the past 10 years, we have lost our identity ".

"We lost that identity that was under Maldini, Baresi, Cannavaro, Neste, Bergomi, Gentile, Shirea ... From 1984 to 1995 we have only Bonucci. For 10 years we have not a single good defender. I hope we will restart Italian football. Non-arrival to the World Cup - confirmation of our problems ".

Juventus, however, remains a formidable force. Team Massimiliano Allegri twice in the last three years reached the final of the Champions League. Now the "old lady" is fighting for the seventh championship in Serie A in a row.

Previously, English clubs showed interest in Giorgio, but ... "If you are Italian, then you can leave Juventus only when the club wants to sell you. Everything is simple ".

He smiles: "When we played Bonucci, Barzagli, Buffon and I behind us, it was something special.

Not only from a technical point of view ... But emotions, feelings of ".

Something similar, Giorgio sees in Tottenham, with which Juve will fight in the 1/8 finals of the Champions League.

"Strong team. I like the Belgian duo of defenders, Vertonghen and Alderwayreld ".

"Harry Kane - a fantastic football player. He played against us three years ago and since then has become much better. He has scored more Messi in a calendar year ... And much more than Chiellini! ".