Homegrown: Jan-Carlo Simić ITA
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00:00 Let's start from the ball that comes to Rafa.
00:02 It goes to the back. What do you think? Do you want to take it?
00:06 I said, "Let's try and see what happens."
00:09 It's an incredible feeling. I get goosebumps when I think about it.
00:13 Rafa, Rafa, Rafa, he puts it in the middle.
00:15 Goal! Goal!
00:17 Simeone!
00:19 Simeone!
00:21 Milan is a legend, a reality and a dream.
00:29 Past, present and future,
00:30 that merge in the hearts and minds of young players
00:33 who come here as visitors
00:35 and hope, or have the ambition, to never leave these walls again.
00:38 Because it means leaving a mark on the history of this club.
00:41 Welcome to the Casa Milan Museum and welcome back to Homegrown,
00:45 where the rule is to tell you and tell the story
00:48 of boys who grew up with the red and black on them.
00:51 However, there are also exceptions in life, as in football,
00:53 that is, those moments when you go beyond the rule.
00:56 Giancarlo Simic didn't grow up in Milan,
00:58 but in Germany, in Stuttgart.
01:00 But on December 1, 2023, he decided to change the rule.
01:04 Here's why his story is worth telling.
01:07 When I was a little boy,
01:13 I played near my house,
01:15 where my dad was my coach.
01:18 In the 12th and 13th grade, I played for Stuttgart Akikas.
01:21 It's a team...
01:23 You say it better than me, I'll tell you the name.
01:25 It's a German Serie D team.
01:28 But they often play against Bundesliga teams.
01:33 At the end of the 13th grade, Stuttgart called.
01:37 I played in the 14th grade until the 17th grade.
01:41 When Giancarlo arrived at the first training,
01:43 I saw that he's different from almost all the other players.
01:48 Being at this team, giving every day the best,
01:51 and not every training day,
01:53 also the day offs, he made much more than lots of the other players.
01:57 I think that's the difference.
01:59 Now he's become a leader in my team.
02:03 For example, when we had some tournaments in Würzburg or in whole Germany,
02:08 it wasn't any difficult for me,
02:11 because he managed the whole team.
02:13 He looked at when we had lunch,
02:15 all the tables were cleaned and everything was fine with the team.
02:18 It was very perfect for me.
02:21 That's very special for us,
02:23 and very different for a kid 11 years old.
02:27 That's when I recognised that it's not even his mindset,
02:31 it's also his leadership that was special for him.
02:33 I'm very happy that this way he's going to the professional football.
02:38 I can tell everybody now that having the right mindset is perfect for becoming a pro.
02:45 The particularity is that you grew up in Germany like your dad,
02:53 but your relatives are Serbian.
02:54 I grew up in Germany, I went to school there,
02:57 I did my studies in Germany,
03:01 but at home I also speak Serbian for my parents.
03:05 You feel very connected to the national team.
03:07 You're playing with the U19s,
03:09 you've played the whole line-up, so you feel very connected.
03:12 Yes, that's right, because I started playing for Serbia in the U16s.
03:18 I played my first game for the national team there.
03:23 Last year we went to Israel to play in the European Cup,
03:29 and we came in third.
03:31 My dream is to play in the national team,
03:35 because that's my goal, and I hope to achieve it.
03:41 You told me about the Bundesliga,
03:43 you went from the Kickers to the Stuttgart,
03:46 the most important team in the city,
03:48 and you scored the Milan goal.
03:50 Do you remember those two years you spent with Stuttgart?
03:54 I spent four years in Stuttgart,
03:58 and two years in Stuttgart against Kickers.
04:00 After the European Cup I was in the gym,
04:03 I was listening to music on the phone,
04:07 and my dad wrote to me, "Milan wants you."
04:11 I called him, and I didn't believe it.
04:15 I said, "It's Barcelona, Real Madrid."
04:18 I was joking.
04:20 He said, "No, no, they called us,
04:24 they want to buy you and let you play for Milan."
04:29 I didn't believe it.
04:32 All my teammates were watching me,
04:36 and I had to pretend like nothing was going on,
04:39 because I couldn't say anything yet.
04:41 I was very happy, but also a bit nervous,
04:46 because it was a huge step forward.
04:50 A different country, a different city,
04:53 where you speak a different language.
04:55 But in the end I'm very happy I came here.
04:59 Your family followed you here.
05:01 It's nice to say that, because they live here now.
05:03 I have a little sister, she's eight years old.
05:07 In my first month here, I was invited,
05:11 because my parents were looking for an apartment
05:14 near Milanello.
05:16 It's very important to have someone you can talk to in person.
05:19 It's important to have your family with you.
05:21 Yes, of course.
05:22 It's much better for me.
05:24 Carlo, we talked about the beginning,
05:29 about Germany, about Stuttgart,
05:31 and you told me in a very vivid way
05:34 how you learned about coming to Milan.
05:37 Then you arrive in Milan,
05:39 all your new teammates, a completely new environment.
05:42 Tell me a little about how you experienced it.
05:44 At first I thought Milan was all big.
05:47 They told me that the new sports centre
05:50 for the spring was coming soon.
05:52 If you look at it now, it's incredible.
05:55 Something big.
05:56 Yes, very big, incredible.
05:58 At first I was trying to speak English
06:00 with some teammates, but...
06:02 But you told me that you had a step up
06:04 with the languages you already had at school, right?
06:07 Yes, at school I learned French, Spanish,
06:11 Italian in a month and a half.
06:15 Which is incredible for a boy who comes to Germany.
06:17 When I was invited, I had a lot of free time.
06:21 Before training, two hours,
06:23 after training, two or three hours,
06:25 so you learn fast.
06:27 You arrived in the last days of the season,
06:29 at the end of August.
06:30 Yes, they had already played two or three games
06:32 in the league.
06:33 I remember we went to the video area,
06:37 45 minutes, I didn't know that,
06:40 because in Germany you don't do that.
06:42 You do it for 10 minutes, 15 minutes at most,
06:44 they show you something and that's it.
06:46 But here, 45 minutes, I was in the video area
06:49 and I didn't understand anything.
06:51 And from there you said, you have to learn right away.
06:53 I have to understand, because if we do it twice a week,
06:57 we do the video, I have to understand.
06:59 It's very important.
07:00 If I want to play, it's also a matter of respect,
07:04 not only for the teammates, but also for the club,
07:07 for the city, for the country.
07:09 That's why I had to learn the language very quickly.
07:12 Carlo, we are inside the Palazzo Primavera.
07:18 Here, I told you, you spent a lot of time,
07:20 you trained a lot.
07:22 Here there are also the images,
07:23 and we saw it before,
07:25 of the guys who, like you, dreamed of being in the first team
07:27 and they did it.
07:29 Give me a look,
07:30 tell me who do you remember the most of these guys.
07:32 Maybe someone still, for example,
07:34 there is Matteo Gabbia, Shestomozi Pobega,
07:36 someone else is a great player,
07:38 and then there is also a particular person for you,
07:40 among these guys.
07:42 A certain Ignazio Abate,
07:43 who was your first coach at Milan.
07:45 Yes, Mr. Abate, number one.
07:48 He showed me how to play football here in Italy,
07:51 much more on a tactical level.
07:55 He is the one who prepared me for the big step
07:59 towards the first team.
08:00 Thanks to him, too,
08:02 I was so ready to play in Serie A.
08:05 He had a great impact,
08:09 from my point of view,
08:11 of great personality.
08:12 A very mature guy for his age.
08:15 He immediately fell into reality,
08:16 he immediately learned the language,
08:18 the demonstration of seriousness,
08:20 of the ambition of a boy.
08:23 He immediately proved himself to be a very serious boy,
08:25 very prepared, ambitious.
08:27 From the point of view of Fisgo,
08:28 you immediately noticed that he had a great strength.
08:31 Indeed, I had to brake him a lot,
08:34 he was pumping in the gym every day.
08:36 I said I didn't need him so often.
08:40 He arrived two hours before the game,
08:42 or two hours later.
08:44 A very mature guy.
08:46 From the point of view of mentality,
08:47 I didn't expect him to be so consistent,
08:49 given his age.
08:51 Last year he started very well,
08:53 he had a moment of call towards the end,
08:56 but then he started again this year.
08:57 He made a great start,
08:59 a great start to the season.
09:01 He passed in the first team in a stable position.
09:03 Despite this, he manages to maintain a certain mental balance,
09:08 which is decisive for the boys,
09:10 but it's not easy to take for granted.
09:12 He's just happy,
09:14 he has to continue like this,
09:15 with this mentality,
09:16 with this humility above all.
09:18 For us, seeing him on other stages
09:22 is a great satisfaction,
09:24 it fills us with pride.
09:25 Seeing these players,
09:26 who has become a great story in Milan,
09:28 who has made his career in the first team,
09:31 it reminds me of the moment when Mr. Pioli called you up for the first time.
09:36 Even when you go out on the pitch,
09:38 the first goal is incredible.
09:40 You have to tell me about these emotions,
09:42 because I think they were so much to live for,
09:44 even for you.
09:45 It's hard to tell.
09:46 I already knew before,
09:48 that I had to be ready,
09:50 because it was a difficult situation.
09:52 They told me before,
09:54 during training,
09:55 "Stay ready".
09:57 There was a possibility.
09:58 There's a possibility that something could happen at any moment.
10:02 It was the 20th minute,
10:04 when Pobe got injured.
10:06 They told me, "Come on Gianca, warm up."
10:09 I did two runs,
10:11 and I was already in.
10:13 It was an incredible emotion.
10:16 When I think about the videos,
10:19 the photos,
10:20 even the feelings,
10:22 I get goosebumps.
10:24 Because it's a moment,
10:27 it's a match.
10:29 I worked a lot on the goal.
10:33 Let's start from the ball,
10:35 you see the ball coming to Rafa.
10:37 It goes to the back.
10:39 What do you think?
10:40 Do you go in to get it?
10:41 Before it was a corner kick.
10:43 I always go forward on the corner kick,
10:47 because I'm a strong defender.
10:51 When I saw the ball came to Rafa,
10:57 I said, "Let's try and see what happens."
11:01 When the ball really came,
11:03 I couldn't believe it.
11:05 I threw it in.
11:07 I didn't hear anything,
11:10 I didn't see anything.
11:11 I only saw Rafa hugging me,
11:16 everyone on the bench came to me.
11:18 They hugged me.
11:21 It was an incredible feeling.
11:24 I get goosebumps when I think about it.
11:28 Be careful, Teo.
11:31 Digi, digi, he's going to wide.
11:34 Rafa, Rafa, Rafa, he's going to score!
11:37 Goal! Goal!
11:39 Simeone!
11:42 What do you think about the stadium saying your name?
11:54 I didn't hear it.
11:56 I didn't believe it.
11:58 I was looking at it like this.
12:00 I didn't know there were 70,000 people.
12:02 I didn't hear anything.
12:04 I only thought about my parents.
12:06 Did you find them in the stands?
12:08 No, but when I saw the reaction...
12:12 You cried.
12:14 Yes, me too.
12:15 When my mum told me,
12:19 I started crying.
12:21 It was very...
12:22 Emotional.
12:23 Yes, very emotional.
12:24 How did you meet Giancarlo?
12:28 As Giancarlo, I grew up in Wendlingen,
12:30 a small town near Stuttgart.
12:32 Giancarlo and I crossed several times
12:35 in elementary school and high school.
12:37 We were together there.
12:39 However, it wasn't until later
12:43 that our friendship really blossomed.
12:45 However, it wasn't until the COVID-19 pandemic
12:47 when we started to train together.
12:50 What started as a casual get-together
12:52 at first house resulted in
12:54 training on a daily basis
12:56 for six hours.
12:58 I remember one particular day
13:01 when we had our leg day.
13:04 We pushed through an intense workout
13:10 where we repeated the same workout
13:12 four times in a row without a pause.
13:14 Then, jokingly, somebody suggested
13:21 cycling up the hill to the fortress of Hohenheufen.
13:25 We nearly were able to walk.
13:27 At first, it seemed ludicrous,
13:29 but then we asked ourselves,
13:31 "Is there any excuse not to do it?"
13:34 There wasn't, so we did it.
13:36 This is also the thing that connects us the most.
13:38 We went through the same things at this point
13:41 and we learned the same invaluable lessons
13:45 about dedication and perseverance.
13:48 This is what makes Giancarlo special.
13:53 He puts in the work and does more,
13:57 works out harder.
13:59 Throughout this training,
14:01 we developed a deep friendship.
14:03 It wasn't just about sports,
14:05 but life in general and how to face challenges.
14:07 We moved to the gym,
14:14 which is an important place for you.
14:16 I know you have a very serious work ethic.
14:19 You're a young man,
14:20 but you already have the professional mentality.
14:22 I'm asking you about your physical growth.
14:24 How much confidence did it give you
14:26 to see that you were growing at the level of the first team?
14:30 You managed to keep the impact when you passed the big ones.
14:34 I'm asking you about your relationship with work.
14:36 That's right.
14:38 I always try to arrive two hours before the start of the team training.
14:43 After training, I still stop for an hour and a half, two hours,
14:48 to work on my stuff, to improve.
14:51 Serie A is very physical.
14:54 If you play against Olivier Giroud,
14:56 he's not the same as a spring player.
15:00 He's big, so you have to be physically strong.
15:04 You have to stay in shape,
15:06 you have to work physically,
15:09 but also mentally.
15:12 Here in the gym,
15:14 I work to be strong physically,
15:17 so I can move around.
15:21 In Giroud or Jovic, there are many games every three days.
15:25 So the work you're telling me about is done with different coaches.
15:29 You had coach Abate,
15:31 so he's a different kind of personality.
15:34 He's a guy from Milan,
15:36 who later became a player for Milan.
15:38 You also had coach Pioli,
15:39 who is definitely more experienced.
15:41 His career is different,
15:42 because Abate is obviously much younger.
15:44 Tell me, not so much the differences between the two,
15:46 but how did you find each other?
15:48 I have a great relationship with both of them.
15:51 I've spent more time with Abate.
15:55 Last year, I was almost always in the spring.
15:58 I have almost the same mentality as him.
16:01 When I arrive, he's already here,
16:03 he's working, he's watching the video,
16:05 where we can improve.
16:07 He's a great professional.
16:11 He gave you some ideas, I guess.
16:13 He inspired you.
16:15 Yes, I always tried to come before him.
16:19 When I arrived before him, I said,
16:21 "Hey, coach, where are you? Why are you late?"
16:23 He made me grow, he made me improve.
16:25 He's always looking for me.
16:27 Even if I play a great game,
16:29 he tells me, "Here and there, there was a situation where you could improve."
16:33 That's what I like, that's what drives me,
16:36 to come before him, to train at the highest level,
16:42 to try to take advantage of every opportunity.
16:46 With Pioli, it's the same.
16:48 We have a great relationship.
16:50 He's more experienced, he's in Serie A,
16:54 but he always tries to improve me on the details.
16:59 When my time came, he threw me in, he gave me confidence.
17:04 I'll never forget that.
17:08 I'll always be grateful to him, like I am to Abate.
17:11 Those are beautiful words, what you say about the coaches,
17:15 but I think you can also say about some teammates.
17:18 You explained to me your relationship with the Primavera,
17:20 obviously, the guys your age are much more like friends.
17:24 Tell me about that, and how you found the dressing room of the first team.
17:28 In the Primavera, I'm friends with everyone.
17:31 I get on well with everyone.
17:34 Sometimes we go out together, we have fun,
17:38 we go out to eat together.
17:42 There are never any problems.
17:44 In the first team, it's the same.
17:47 I get on well with Malik Chau, because he's German,
17:51 I talk to him a lot.
17:54 Simon Kjer is my mentor, because he's my role.
17:59 He always tries to help me improve,
18:02 because he has experience in the game,
18:05 and when he sees a situation where I could have done better,
18:09 he comes to me and tells me his opinion.
18:13 And above all, with Luka Jovic, he's Serbian,
18:18 he plays for the national team,
18:21 he has incredible qualities.
18:23 As a man, he always tries to help me improve.
18:27 Simon Kjer is more in my role,
18:30 but Jovic sees me more as a little brother.
18:34 I'm very grateful to him too.
18:37 Usually, a Gron is a guest for kids who grew up here.
18:40 We made an exception with you because we liked telling your story.
18:44 Coming from a world as far away as Stuttgart, compared to Milan,
18:48 having seen Milan as a dream that came true,
18:52 what do you feel like saying to the kids, not Italians,
18:55 but to the kids in Europe, in the world,
18:58 who dream of playing for Milan?
19:00 You made it here.
19:02 Tell me what Milan was for you,
19:04 and what you'd like to say to those who dream of coming to Milan,
19:08 like you.
19:10 For me, Milan is a mystery.
19:14 Because every day, when I get to Milanello,
19:18 I see the Milan logo,
19:21 I ask my mom, "Mom, is it true that I play for Milan?"
19:24 So, it all seems surreal.
19:28 To the young players,
19:31 I just say to be patient,
19:34 work hard,
19:36 work harder than the others,
19:38 and focus on football,
19:43 and not lose your head.
19:44 Of course, there are many things I can improve on,
19:47 but if I look at where I've come from,
19:50 I can say that I'm very proud of my career.
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