01 August 2023
From Vinovo to the United States... a road incredibly difficult to imagine. Hans Nicolussi Caviglia and Moise Kean probably didn't even dare dream of such when they met for the first time in the Vinovo locker room over ten years ago. Two children full of dreams, different, but united by the same passion. From that moment their paths have intertwined, bringing them back together, in the USA, with the First Team shirt.
Directly from Orlando, the last leg of the Juventus Summer Tour 2023, the pair are able to reflect on their many past experiences together. Two players who have matured, and whose dreams have now turned to reality, without forgetting the road that has allowed them to get here.
Both remember their first meeting very well. Moise was entering an entirely new environment, while Hans, on the other hand, was already at home in black and white: "I remember very well the first time Moise arrived at Vinovo. When he entered the locker room everyone whispered, 'He looks strong'. Then we took to the field and I discovered that yes, he really was strong!" Hans also remembers another detail: "The kitman then gave him some shoes for training."
It's up to Moise to pick up the thread of that story: "Yes, it's true! I thought I just had to go for medical examinations, instead I had to train and I hadn't brought anything, so they had to give me shoes to wear. I noticed Hans on the pitch, because there were so many children in the locker room and we were divided into two groups. I was with him on the pitch and our friendship was born from there."
The coach back then was Corrado Grabbi (pictured below with Moise), a name that comes to mind for both, at the same time, when asked to think of a key figure that contributed to their growth. Hans has no doubts: "We had Mister Grabbi for five or six seasons and he trained us both as players and as men." Moise adds, "I would also say Gigi Milani for me, he got me out of a lot of trouble! And I would also add Mister Antonio Marchio."
There were a lot of them that first day, Kean recalls. It was certainly not easy to get to this point, but Moise never had any doubt over Hans. "I always knew that he would reach the top, because he was different from everyone else." Hans reciprocates with, "From the first meeting I knew that Moise would reach very high levels. He had qualities that the others didn't have, and I was able to see his growth as a footballer with every day that passed."
The path to the first team, which was far from easy, has now been travelled by both. An understanding glance back then was enough and, Moise assures us, a glance is still enough today. "A glance is enough to understand each other. Even on the pitch, despite the years having passed, I know how he reacts to certain things and what he thinks in certain moments. It's like he's my brother."
Hans can only smile. "Some things I see him do now I've seen him do a thousand times over the years and so I know what goes through his head at certain moments. I know that on the surface we can appear very different, but I think we have a basis of genuineness in common that has allowed us to bond. We have always had a good time together, our relationship is genuine and sincere."
Fate was definitely involved on the day of Nicolussi Caviglia's debut in the First Team, where his good friend Moise had already taken his place in the dressing room with the senior squad. On 8 March 2019, Juventus-Udinese was played at the Allianz Stadium. Eighty minutes in, and the game halts for a substitution: Kean out, Nicolussi Caviglia in. Making your debut Serie A while coming on for a friend... it's hard to ask for more. "It was even better to make my debut like this," Hans recalls. "I remembered all the games played together, the many shared moments. It made that moment even more special."
That bond didn't break, even when their journeys took different paths. Each stage was accompanied by a message from the friend who had been with them through thick and thin. Hans wrote to Moise after his first goal and after his move to Everton; Moise wrote to Hans in his most difficult moment, the cruciate ligament tear in 2020 and then later on, when other challenges further slowed his return to the game in the 2021. Time can fade and erase many things, but not all of them.
Nicolussi Caviglia is now enjoying the beauty of the moment: "It's such a great feeling, I know we can rely on the sense of belonging we have and it's something special because we've been together with this shirt since we were eight years old. It's a beautiful thing."
Kean concludes, "I had a feeling that one day we would meet again here." How right you were, Moise.
