Vieri's interviews: the origins

MILAN – Christian Vieri at the beginning of his career, not as a footballer but as an interviewer. The former Nerazzurri striker, who has gained quite the following on Instagram through his almost daily chats involving former teammates and stars of Italian football, was already sharpening up his interview skills 20 years ago, back when there was no social media but a number of exclusive guests.

At the end of 2000, Vieri decided to grab a microphone and ask his teammates questions at Appiano Gentile ahead of the final game of the year (Atalanta 0-1 Inter, Seedorf): Javier Zanetti, Ivan Zamorano, Alvaro Recoba, Clarence Seedorf, Ivan Cordoba, Gigi Di Biagio, Laurent Blanc, Sébastien Frey, Cristian Brocchi, Andrea Pirlo and Benoit Cauet were the stars of the former forward’s first interviews.

A mix of attempts to avoid him, surprised looks, jokes and laughter: here’s a look back at what are probably the origins of Vieri as an interviewer: