It was a special day for Marco Palestra, who today received the "Inside the Sport 2026" award, presented by USSI and MCI as part of the 80th anniversary celebrations of the Italian Sports Press Union. The Rossoblu full-back accepted the award during a ceremony held at the Football Museum in Coverciano, in the FIGC Technical Center. " I owe so much to Coach Pisacane and my teammates on this adventure ," he said. "Cagliari and Sardinia have changed my life and my career, with so many positive aspects on and off the field, so many friendships and connections. This is a fundamental step for me."
According to Palestra, next Monday (6:30 p.m.) will be Cagliari vs. Atalanta, a match against the team that owns his contract. "I have many friends there," he points out. " It's the environment where I grew up. We're coming off a good performance, even if it didn't go well, and we're focusing on next Monday to get some crucial points . Inter are a strong team, we knew that. We gave our all, but it wasn't enough."
On loan from Bergamo, Palestra has found the ideal environment in Cagliari to establish himself. "Sardinia is something special for me. I've built strong relationships here and taken an important step forward, a crucial asset for my professional and personal journey. But I definitely have a lot to improve in everything: I still have a long way to go. I've only been playing professionally for two years, and I have a lot to improve on ."
Palestra doesn't give much weight to the transfer rumors: "Me going to Inter after Dumfries? Now I'm only thinking about Cagliari and staying up: the fans, the staff, and my teammates deserve it. The rumors are nice, but I don't follow them too much. For the future, we'll see what the best decision is ." And on the national team: "It was a tough defeat, but we need to start over. We have a great group, and I noticed that right away. I'm convinced that with time and hard work, we'll all be able to get back up together. These have been difficult days, where we've only had to reflect and sadly think back on that evening, thinking back at home about what went wrong. Then we move on and think about Cagliari: now we have to save ourselves."
