Alice Zuanti: "Being the captain of this team is a huge satisfaction."

In her third year in Venice, Alice Zuanti has become captain of Venezia FC Femminile. Wearing the armband and playing the role of team leader represent at the same time a huge satisfaction and a great challenge that she, however, feels ready to face. With the beauty of 9 goals scored in 6 matches, she is certainly one of the protagonists of the excellent start of the season of the lionesses led on the bench by Tatiana Zorri.

"Becoming the captain of Venezia FC Femminile is a great satisfaction, it is proof that hard work pays off because in soccer I have always put all of myself and I am proud of that. I feel a great responsibility and I try to be an example for my teammates every day. In my first year here I was given the role of vice-captain but I did not feel ready, but now I think I have matured and I think it is the right year to take this responsibility. On the field at the character level I have always been focused on doing the right things and helping my teammates but I am definitely learning how to relate to the referees as well because as captain I have a duty to go and ask for explanations. It is not easy because you never know the character of the person in front of you and sometimes you risk getting the opposite effect by going to confront them. Surely experience will lead me to improve in this aspect.

The best moment since I've been at Venice I think is undoubtedly winning the Coppa Italia in Serie C. It was particularly exciting because it is my first career trophy in addition to being the sweet epilogue to a difficult season in which I suffered my first real injury of my football life and could not get on the field for a few weeks. When I scored with my header in the semifinal against Spezia I realized that maybe we could really bring home the cup. Only when we won it, however, did we realize we had made it.

The new sports center in Ca' Venezia is wonderful and makes us feel even more the presence and support of the club. In women's soccer it is difficult to find such a beautiful and impressive facility, we are very happy and proud to represent this club. With the new coach Tatiana Zorri I have a great relationship, she is a beautiful person and I am glad she came here. I like how she communicates and collaborates with her staff, who are always ready to help and follow us. Characteristically, I have never had much confidence in myself, I have always underestimated myself a little bit and Tatiana is helping me a lot from this point of view. On the court I am usually very unselfish but I am learning that in certain situations taking the initiative, attempting the play and targeting the opponent can be much more effective.

The ambition is to make a first-tier championship, we want to stick to the top of the standings and get to play until the end but to do that we will have to work hard. On a personal level, I hope to stay physically fit, to play all the games and, why not, to win the top scorer ranking given the excellent start to the season. At this level it has never happened to me to score so much at the beginning of a season (9 goals in 6 games) and maybe this can be the right year even if I am currently second in the standings. The presence of the fans at the team presentation and matches gives us great pleasure and I can only thank them because they give us the charge to do well on the field. We are also Venezia FC and I would definitely like to spur them to come more and more.“