Antonio Raimondo credits Alvini with his progress at Frosinone

Antonio Raimondo credits Alvini with playing a major part in his development, as the Frosinone forward sits at the top of the Serie A scoring charts. After scoring three times against Sassuolo, he also revealed which goal he preferred: the last one. The performance took his league tally to seven goals in seven appearances.

Raimondo picked his third goal as the most memorable, in part because it was his first professional hat-trick. “The best one was the third, because scoring my first hat-trick as a professional is a wonderful feeling. I had everyone sign the match ball,” he said. He also acknowledged that luck played a part in another finish: “I was also a little lucky, because the ball went over the goalkeeper and then the goal was empty.”

He described using a double feint for his opening goal to get past the goalkeeper. “It was to avoid looking like an idiot. I saw that the goalkeeper had gone to ground and, just to make sure, I did another one,” he explained. More broadly, he said he keeps looking for loose balls and rebounds in the penalty area, even when an attack appears to be over, in case of a mistake or an opportunity.

The forward placed particular emphasis on Alvini’s influence since they met at Frosinone. “When I met Alvini here at Frosinone, I have to say he changed me as a player, because he gets on at me in every training session and I have found a certain consistency,” he said. Raimondo believes consistency and experience matter as much as a good run of form. He also recalled scoring just once in the season before joining Frosinone, crediting the work with his coach and the club staff for his improvement.

Raimondo also praised the group’s unity and the clear identity the coach has given the team. The collective objective, he said, is survival. On his own ambitions, he expressed hope of one day reaching Italy’s senior national team. He also named Edinson Cavani as his childhood idol, admiring the former Napoli striker’s work rate and hunger.