Sérgio Conceição capped off an incredible first week at AC Milan by lift the Italian Super Cup on Mondaycapping a period that included two comeback victories, battling a fever, getting injured and smoking a cigar in the locker room.
Conceição replaced the sacked Paulo Fonseca as coach last Monday and, despite illness and a high temperature, he took his place on the bench to lead Milan to a 2-1 semi-final victory against Juventus Friday.
Milan came from a goal down to beat Juventus, but things looked much worse in Monday’s final when they found themselves two goals behind local rivals Inter Milan after conceding a goal from each side of halftime.
“The team has character, it finally managed to win games against two great teams,” Conceição told Mediaset. “At halftime the coach has to change some things, that’s what they pay me for.”
Conceição’s team once again showed their fighting spirit, coming back to 2-2 and, with the match in injury time and heading to penalties, Tammy Abraham scored a spectacular winner.
The Milan players and staff celebrated with a visibly emotional Conceição at the final whistle, but the coach was injured and had to receive treatment on the bench before returning to his team.
“Emerson Royal gave me a red card,” Conceição said with a laugh. “I’m very happy for the players because it wasn’t easy, we had little time to work on the details that were important to me.
“All the credit goes to them because they absorbed my directions. There is still a lot of work but with humility, we can do well in the Champions League and in the championship.
After the victory against Juventus, Conceição had said that he was not a nice person and that he did not smile much, but in the dressing room after winning the Super Cup, the coach danced while smoking a cigar during as the celebrations continued.
“At the end of the match, the players immediately told me that I should smoke a cigar; They knew I did this ritual when I won a title,” Conceição said at a press conference. “It’s my 13th title as a coach; I’m happy and it has a special flavor for me.
Conceição will supervise his first match in Series A at home against Cagliari on