Q. & A. With A.C. Milan’s Oguchi Onyewu

Oguchi Onyewu joined his new team, A.C. Milan, during the club’s preseason tour of the United States last month. After a day of training and promotional events in the Boston area, Onyewu and his teammates enjoyed a team dinner at the Four Seasons downtown. After dinner, he sat down with The New York Times for an interview about his new team and his experience playing soccer overseas. What follows is a partial transcript of my interview with Onyewu.

There are people who have never paid attention to soccer before who noticed you during the Confederations Cup and are now aware of your transfer to A.C. Milan. Does that register at all with you, the new attention?

Not so much. Everybody, or journalists or reporters, make it their job to let everyone know or to say how important this transfer is or how much impact it is going to have on the country in terms of the response to soccer. But for me personally, it’s just another step in my career. Obviously it’s a big step with a big club. I’m just trying to stay on the same path I’ve been since I started and continue to progress and get better as a player. On the flip side of that, if in turn it promotes soccer in the country and helps the US in terms of the soccer response, all the better.

Which do you feel more pressure about: playing for a big club like A.C. Milan or being the only American in Serie A?

I don’t feel pressure from either of them, to be honest. I think I’ve been somewhat of a trendsetter ever since I came to Europe. I think when I went to France, I was one of two Americans in the French league. Greg Vanney was there, then he left. When I came to Belgium, I was one of two, then he left and I was the only one for a while. When I signed here, I didn’t even think twice about being the only American. I didn’t even see nationality as an issue, because it shouldn’t be. People should just judge you based on your quality in the sport.

In joining a big club, it’s the same as any other club. I think if you don’t perform then you’re not going to get the results you want. It was the same in any other club I was in. If I wasn’t performing week in and week out, then the result wouldn’t have been this transfer now. I think I just have to put everything behind me and keep focused and grounded and keep doing everything I’ve been doing the past eight years.

How have your new teammates reacted to you joining the club?

They’re really cool. I appreciate them a lot because they’re making this transition unbelievably easy. I’ve only been here for not even a week, and I feel like I’ve been with them all preseason. They’re really cool guys — easy to get along with — the coaching staff and everybody else has been very accommodating. I couldn’t have anticipated the transition going any more smoothly than it is.

Who are the individuals you’ve been able to connect with most?

Pretty much all of them. To be honest: everybody. I don’t speak Italian, obviously, yet. But Clarence Seedorf, he speaks English, I can speak with him. Mathieu Flamini, he speaks French, I can speak with him. The captain, he speaks English, Ambrosini. He’s always talking to me. Gattuso is a great guy; he’s always saying things. Ronaldinho, making jokes, he speaks French as well, he played at PSG.

Literally everybody, I don’t know if they do it on purpose or it is just their character, but they’ve made me feel welcome. I don’t feel any bit of an outsider.

What’s been your biggest surprise since joining the team?

Biggest surprise? I wouldn’t say it’s a surprise, but it’s pleasant to know that I’ve got so much support from the teammates. Every training session, the last two games I’ve played in. I can really see that they encourage me in the hopes that I perform well and they just want to see my success on the team. I don’t think that’s surprising, but I’m happy to see that’s the case.

In the press there were reports Portsmouth, Fulham, all these different clubs were interested in you. A day before you signed, even Real Madrid was rumored to be interested. But never a word about A.C. Milan. How did Milan come to sign you?

It’s always the quiet ones. I guess from the beginning of last season toward the end, winning the league with Liege, I had a good season. And directly off that season, the Confederations Cup and our team performing well and I put in a couple of good individual performances. And in turn, everyone knew I was a free agent. The interest started rolling with, one, the season and two, the confirmation in the Confederations Cup against the teams that we were playing. So more teams after that tournament started getting more serious interest and started to put bids on tables. And that’s no different than Milan. They were just a lot smarter and quicker to do it. And I was a lot more excited to join their team.

Was it a risk for you to go into the Confederations Cup without a contract?

Yeah. I’ve been playing roulette since the beginning of the season. Because I knew at the beginning of the season this was my final year and I was out of contract and I could ultimately sign for a free transfer in January for the next season. Since December of ’08, Clubs have been offering me new contracts, but I’ve been delaying or passing them by. Some advice from people has been, “take it now, because you never know what the future holds. You’ve got to be assured now because things can turn or injuries or whatever.”

I was stubborn. I told myself, look, I didn’t get to this point in my career, work so hard, just to settle. I’ll take the risk. If it ends up smacking me in the face, at least I can live with it and know that I did it. Everyone said I was a fool and that I was really playing with my career at that point. But I really stuck by my guns and believed in my potential and what I was capable of doing — and to be able to win back to back championships with my club and defy the improbable and reach the final of the confederations cup with the United States — I guess I had a lucky hand at the poker table.

With people questioning you, where did your faith come from?

In myself? Well, I Just knew.

One, I believe in God. I’m Catholic. I prayed through all of my decisions. At the end of the day, everything just told me to keep on waiting and it’s going to fall into place. I had a lot of struggles over a lot of decisions I had to make to pass things by and I didn’t know if I was making the right decision or not, but at the end of the day, it just felt right to wait. And I knew that when the time came to make a decision, it won’t be a difficult decision to make. I don’t know, premonition maybe.

Sounds like confidence.

It’s confidence and faith. A combination of the two, and a little bit of chance.

What has the Milan coaching staff been telling you? What do they expect from you?

I know that in me they see a strong presence in the defensive line. And someone that can be combative in a team that probably needs it, or a league that demands it. I know that’s one of the aspects that they’re looking at me on. Any more detailed than that – I just try to play my game. And every opportunity I get on the field I’m just trying to make it the best.

What do you expect from yourself?

I hope to break the starting lineup. Whether that be tomorrow or next week or next month or in December or whatever. I’m just working at it. If it doesn’t happen now, I’m going to stick with it because this is the decision that I’ve made and I’m going to follow it through and hopefully win over the coaching staff with my qualities.

It’s a hell of a starting lineup. And an impressive history: Baresi, Maldini, now Onyewu? Do you see that? Do you see your place in that lineage of Milan defenders?

I certainly hope so. That’s what I’m aiming for. That’s what I’m working for. That’s what all of my work is for. That’s what my career has been directed toward since the beginning. To make a mark. To prove myself on the international stage. To be recognized as a top defender some day. So hopefully I’ll get that opportunity and get that recognition.

People always comment about your physicality, your size. You’re a big dude. Do people overlook other aspects of your game and only focus on how big you are?

I feel that people who don’t know the game or are not as in depth in the game would probably focus on my size and strength and the other attributes that are in your face. But just to prove them wrong, I was probably, all last season of the championship, I was the player that probably got carded the least on our team and the player that played the most minutes out of everybody. So I can’t be that physical in order to do all of that.

Obviously when I first started I was raw a little bit and I needed to learn my body and learn to control myself and I think that’s the whole process of growing up, learning, progressing as a player. And I think within the last few years that I’ve def adapted within myself and I’ve changed that aspect of my game completely around. But there’s a lot of points of my game that people don’t recognize the progress s I’ve made or the work that I’ve put in to make my weaknesses a strength and my strengths even stronger. But that’s alright. As long as Milan was able to notice that to sign me, I’m sufficed with that, and the critics can say what they want.

What do you see as your strengths, and your weaknesses?

I’d rather not focus on my weaknesses. But my strength is my capacity to learn. I’m never sufficed with what’s on the table for myself. I always feel as though I can do something better. Or if I see someone doing something that maybe I haven’t tried, I’m going to see if I can get myself to do that. I don’t set limits for myself. I try and surpass whatever those limits are.
Someone once told me, a little kid, a fan, asked me, ‘what does it take to be the next Gooch?’ You know what: Don’t be the next me. Be better than me. ‘Well what advice do you have for training?’ Man, push yourself to the limits and once you get there, push yourself past that. That’s honestly and wholeheartedly the only advice I have and that’s the advice I live by.

Who are the people you rely on, who have helped and influenced you: teammates, coaches, family, friends?

My family. Through everything, they do know all of my ups and downs more than anybody in this world. I’m very close with my parents and four brothers and sisters. They have been really the backbone in terms of stabilizing me and keeping me focused and letting me know that whenever things are not going my way, that it can get better from there and to keep on pushing through because everything happens for a reason.

What about next season? What if you’re not playing on the first team if you’re on the bench, not starting? Have you thought about that?

No, I haven’t. I don’t try and focus on negativity too much. You know, it’s obviously a possibility. But until it’s the case, I don’t need to focus on that right now. We’re in preseason. Everyone right now is trying to vie for a position. There’s nothing’s set in stone. I’m no different than anyone else. I am the new person, but I think I have just as much as right as everyone else to earn a spot in the starting lineup.

After you signed, the Italian press – Corriere della Cera, Gazetta dello Sport – said you were a Nigerian defender who plays for the U.S. national team. Obviously, your parents are from Nigeria, but you were born in Maryland.

I am Nigerian, so they’re not wrong. A lot of people ask me this question. They ask me, what do you feel more, American or Nigerian? And to be honest, I feel both. Obviously I’m Nigerian, 120 percent Nigerian, in my blood and the culture I was brought up with in my parents and in my household is Nigerian for sure. At the same time, I was born in America and also have that culture instilled with me in terms of growing up and coming through the school system.

Most people who grow up in the United States understand being both, or being more than one or even two nationalities. But, there are not a lot of Americans who play in Serie A in Italy. Maybe they don’t know what to make of it. Or if they sign a U.S. international, maybe it doesn’t mean as much. But there have been a number of Nigerians who have played in Italy and who have played quite well. Maybe it was a way to bump you up in the media reports?

Or a way to justify the signing. I don’t know. Anybody who knows me knows that I’m Nigerian from Nigerian parents of Nigerian background. But if you know me on an international stage, you know me because of the fact that I played for the U.S. national team. It’s the best of both worlds. I’m not going to argue this question. I’m just going to go with it.

Like I said from the beginning, it’s not important your nationality as much as your qualities on the field.

You filed a lawsuit for racial abuse at the end of last season in Belgium. So identity plays into your thought process. Have you thought about what it might be like playing in Italy where there is a reputation of not necessarily being friendly to outsiders?

Yeah. I obviously haven’t felt that here in this team because there’s no hint of that whatsoever amongst the players. I’ve heard stories from Italian supporters or whatnot. It’s not understandable but, you hear about it. But you can’t really do much about what a fan does or what a supporter does. I’ve also been negatively pointed out by fans in Belgium.

This particular incident was from a player, which is why I decided to take action because I don’t feel amongst the players on the field there should be room for such negativity or narrow-minded ways of thinking. That I could control. I can’t control the 20,000 or 40,000 people who are screaming or who it’s coming from. But when someone directs it to me face to face, that I won’t accept.

When you get to Milan, do you have someone helping you out, do you have somewhere to live?

I’m not really focused on that right now. The club is definitely going to help me. Their phrase every day is, ‘whatever you need, just ask.’ Once we get to Milan, or once we get back to Italy, it won’t be a problem to find a place to stay or getting an Italian tutor or whatever it is. I’m not really scared to be in that situation because it won’t be the first time I’ve been in that situation so I know what to expect. I’m a person that adapts well to new surroundings. It doesn’t really bother me too much. That’s probably the last thing on my mind right now, to be honest. That hasn’t really crossed my mind yet.

What’s the first thing on your mind?

Getting in that starting lineup. That’s what I’m a player for. That’s what I make a living doing and that’s why I’m here.

Do you feel comfortable on the field with this team?

I feel good. I think football is football, anywhere. I don’t think that because I’m American or any other factor I should feel out of place on the team. Just as much as I earned my signing, they earned their signing on the team as well. Everyone on the field should be on equal ground in that sense. But obviously it’s probably going to take some adapting, just like any new league. But I’m hopeful that period of adaptation will pass quickly and I won’t even notice it.

You’re wearing the shirt, you’re out there on the field, some aspect of this has to have soaked in already, right?

I was thrilled when all this went down, don’t get me wrong. But after that initial excitement you have to put things in perspective and know what you’re dealing with and know what’s at stake. And that’s exactly what I’m dealing with right now. I’ve got a lot of competition here, so I’ve got to stay focused and stay concentrated on the goal. And aside from that, I don’t really need to be caught up in all of that ecstasy because everyone around me is already there. I know it means a lot to my friends and family…. I’m just thankful for the situation.

What else, besides earning a starting spot? And what if that doesn’t happen right away?

If that happens, then everything else falls into place. That should be my primary objective. After that, everything just works itself out. I fit doesn’t I’ll just cross that bridge when I get there.

In any person’s career, you always get an opportunity, sometimes more than one. So, if given that chance or given that opportunity, I’m going to make the most of it and not let it slip away. Which is what I’ve done in every other situation up until this point, whether it be in club or national team, I’ve taken my chances and ran with it.

I don’t think I’ve ever been brought to a team as a starter. From France, to both teams in Belgium, to the national team. It’s all about the opportunity that you take and making the coach aware that you have something special. Because everybody does, but being able to make your specialty prominent and in his face, that’s what the little differences that push a person’s career forward, just being able to stand out. I’m trying to do that right now.