Santacroce: De Laurentiis silenced the coach and paid a bonus after a defeat

Fabiano Santacroce recalled when president Aurelio De Laurentiis rewarded the team after a 2-1 defeat at the Meazza against Milan. Santacroce said De Laurentiis came into the dressing room, told the players everyone would get a bonus and added that he was the only chairman who ever awarded a bonus for losing a match.

He also remembered the April 26, 2009 victory over Mourinho's Inter, a 1-0 win thanks to a Zalayeta goal. Santacroce described watching the opponents arrive in the underpass as if they were two metres tall and recalled the veterans arguing about whether the win should be rewarded, one saying no reward because players were paid to do the job.

Santacroce described De Laurentiis as volcanic, often entering dressing rooms at half-time and silencing the coach by declaring that football is like cinema. He called the president a man of his word who can be very witty but stubborn.

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