It's still July and there's a sultry heat in Milan that sticks to you. Nevertheless, we are on our way to visit one of the players on his family farm in the province of Verona. When we arrive, we are greeted by Federico Baschirotto, an unusual scene that already shows the kind of person behind those granite muscles. Indeed, the defender from Lecce greets us as if we were lifelong friends, proudly showing us around his estate, but above all serving us lunch, setting the table and cutting the salami, simple gestures that underline his great humility and desire to keep busy. A man of the people, as he has defined himself time and again, and as he told me that day in the country: "I'm a humble guy, even if it doesn't look like it at first glance. On the pitch I convey fighting spirit and desire, I transform a bit, but outside I'm a bit like everyone else, a normal person who likes to be in company, joking and laughing. That's a side that not everyone sees, and I think that's what has helped me to be so successful: I am a sociable person."

Our meeting begins at his Azienda Agricola Baschirotto F&F estate, the place where Federico relaxes and unwinds after a season spent fighting and running on pitches halfway up the Serie A table. He has sacrificed himself both on and off the pitch. Baschirotto has attracted a lot of attention, Fabio Caressa has praised his physical and tactical qualities in every broadcast, even going so far as to say that he prefers him to the greatest defenders. Words that have not gone unnoticed and that have contributed to the popularity of a player who is far from the stereotype of the Serie A footballer, both by his looks and his human qualities, making him the perfect protagonist for the new episode of More Than.

Despite this support, his path was not easy, for the road was never paved, but he is a monument to work ethic and willpower. He explains that there were times when, despite his great dedication, he thought he would not make it. There were many difficult moments. In every year of this cavalcade that brought me to Serie A, there were certain phases. "But I managed to respond through the desire and the belief that I still have now to reach and keep Serie A. So even though I had those setbacks, I never lost my goal, my dream in the drawer, in fact, those difficult moments sometimes gave me even more strength to keep going. For me, the difficult moments have always been an incentive to get to where I am now and where I might want to be tomorrow, because I do not set limits for myself."

These are all fragments with which Federico Baschirotto built himself and his persona to achieve goals that were locked in a drawer that sometimes seemed closed and that he thought could not be opened even by force. But in the end, with the desire that distinguishes him not only on the pitch, but also when he wanders among his plants and animals, speaking with a consciousness and an authority, he overturned every possible expectation or prejudice. An irrepressible, almost contagious drive, which he also displays during the filming. In fact, it is he himself who collects the chickens, tends the donkey and organises the movements on his huge estate.

This desire to be involved, to never be satisfied, has found its blue target this season. A dream he had never really cherished either, although someone had predicted it: "I will give you a scoop that no one knows about: Corvino called me and said: "Baschi, come to Lecce, you will make the national team. I laughed and said that first I have to think about being in the starting eleven and playing, and then who knows. Actually, I have to thank coach Baroni, he gave me the confidence, as did the whole club, from the president to the staff to my teammates. It's been a crazy journey, if I had known at the beginning of the year that it would end like this, I would have signed in blood."

When this dream became reality, even he could not believe it: "When Mr Mancini called, I was surprised, I did not even understand who was on the phone, I did not expect it. In short, my heart was racing. Arriving in Azzurro is inexplicable, it's indescribable feelings, you ask yourself a thousand questions and wonder if it's all true. I remember at that moment I hugged my proxy who immediately told me to celebrate, we went to drink a bottle of wine. We had a backlog in saving Lecce, so we put the two together. Something we had to do. My procurator is the same as when I played in excellence and today we have almost reached Olympus. Living that feeling is what makes you stand out."