Luis Alberto said his recall to the Spain squad after impressing with Lazio is “the best thing that has ever happened to me in football.”
The former Liverpool midfielder has contributed three goals and seven assists in 16 competitive games for the Aquile this season, earning him a recall to the Spain squad.
“This is the best thing that has ever happened to me in football,” the 25-year-old told Marca.
Luis Alberto said his recall to the Spain squad after impressing with Lazio is “the best thing that has ever happened to me in football.”
The former Liverpool midfielder has contributed three goals and seven assists in 16 competitive games for the Aquile this season, earning him a recall to the Spain squad.
“This is the best thing that has ever happened to me in football,” the 25-year-old told Marca.
“I was at home with my wife and kept an eye on the list. The first name out was Alberto Moreno, who is like a brother to me, and after three or four names, mine appeared. It was a moment of maximum euphoria, I dropped the phone and we embraced… After that, I sent messages to my friends, family, to a group where there are several players.”
It is an outcome Luis Alberto cannot have expected only a few months ago.
“People say I’m one of the best performers in Serie A this season? I was certainly one of the worst last year. I decided to make a change, because it was all slipping away.
“I have to thank the people who helped me, as they helped me to find faith in myself, ignore what was around me and focus on helping the team. My wife helped a lot, as did Juan Campillo, who I worked with on my mentality. I realised that two flashes in a match weren’t enough, as you can’t just play well for 20 minutes out of 90.
“Now I try to help the Lazio youngsters who don’t play as much. I tell them to watch me or Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, as now we are playing regularly and before we weren’t. You mustn’t throw in the towel, you have to keep faith in yourself and know everything can change.”
Luis Alberto has also realised the importance of two particular matches per season.
“The fans here have so much passion. From the first day, they talked to me about the derby with Roma. The Scudetto doesn’t matter, as long as they win the derby.
“I actually prefer providing assists to scoring goals. I’ve got a great rapport with Ciro Immobile.”