Now 54, Sanna is famous with Cagliari fans for how he worked his way up from the lower leagues of Italy to Serie A - and to their famous run to the UEFA Cup semifinals.
Along with the Sardinians, Sanna also made his mark with the likes of Sampdoria and Torino, before hanging up the boots and entering coaching. With this lengthy chat, Sanna looks back on his career and also discusses his approach to coaching and today's football in general.
What were your best experiences as a player?
“I enjoyed every moment in every club and I felt well everywhere to be honest with you. But due to the fact that I am from Sardegna, I felt very happy to play for the team of my region in Cagliari. There were 6 wonderful years there and I had the privilege to play and work with great people there. Also I was very lucky to be part of that team with very talented players who were known all around the world."
With Cagliari, you arrived frim the lower leagues and helped them reach Serie A and then Europe!
“I will be honest when I arrived at Cagliari when I was 21, 22 years old I didn’t deserve to play in Serie A. I arrived from 3 leagues lower and I needed to adapt at that level. The period of adaption was hard but I did it also with the help of my teammates and of the coach there. Day after day with great work behind the scenes I achieved to become a Serie A player.
"For this I am also very grateful to my teammates and the help they gave to me by making me feel like home. In that time I was a midfielder very strong who would run during the match all 90 minutes like a crazy just to help my team."
And you played for Carlo Mazzone at Cagliari...
“I can say to you that mister Mazzone in those years was in front of the others because he knew everything about everyone. For example he'd know a young lad who could make his debut in Serie A and Carlo would tell you every detail for that young player. On the field he was like you saw him on TV, very determined, very focused but from the other side outside of the field he was the most polite and gentle person in the world. Also I am very grateful to him because he gave me my debut in Serie A and I will never forget this."
You also had Max Allegri as a teammate in Cagliari's midfield...
“I had a great relationship with everyone also with Allegri. He was a fantastic player for me and he could play for the biggest teams in Italy in that time without a problem. His technical qualities were very high and he understood the game very well.
"As he was a great player he's demonstrated during the years that he is also a great coach and for the future of him in Italy I don’t know what to say but in my opinion he will go and coach abroad."
And what about playing for El Maestro, Oscar Tabarez?
“The mister is a great coach but most important a great human being. Also he was innovative because when he arrived we changed our tactical philosophy because before we always played on the man and with him we played zonal. I felt very good with him and I learned a lot from Tabarez and in my opinion also Italy has learned a lot from him."
What have you made of Cagliari this season?
“I think that Cagliari has a team that can stay in Serie A. Davide Nicola is doing a good job there, he started with some difficulties in the beginning but now things seems to be better and the team is performing also well. I hope that they can continue this way and that in the end they can survive in the Serie A also for the next season because that city and those fans deserve to stay and compete in Serie A."
What about your experience with Torino? How big an influence did Emiliano Mondonico have on you?
“It was a great experience for me there, I felt very well with everyone during my period there. Our team was very strong and I had the chance to play with wonderful players there. In that year we were playing in Serie B and we achieved to get promoted to Serie A. We had a great squad with a very good coach that was Mondonico.
"He was a great coach, very prepared. Emiliano was a very strong coach, paid a great attention also to the smallest details. As a human being he was always very gentle and polite with us and was there for us in every moment."
And then there was Sampdoria...
“When I joined Sampdoria I did the summer preseason with Torino and I then joined Sampdoria in the last days of the transfer market. At Sampdoria I had as a coach mister (Gian Piero) Ventura who I worked with during my time at Cagliari. One of the reasons why I joined Sampdoria was because of mister Ventura. But my time there was not very good because I didn’t play a lot. I thought in the beginning that I would have played more, but despite this I trained every day harder and harder, I gave my 100% in every session in order to be ready when the opportunity would come."
You also were a teammate of Roberto D'Aversa at Samp...
"I played with him only for 6 months and for me he was a great player with high technical qualities and I had a great relationship with him. As a coach I am watching from outside and I think he has done a great job in every place he has been and we should keep in mind that he has coached always medium or small teams. So I can speak only very well about him and his skills as a coach."
And what about yourself, tell us a little about your entry into coaching...
“I live in Sardegna and here we are limited regarding the teams and I have the license to train until the Serie C. Here the one Serie C team from my region is where I am working now, Torres. I have always worked with the non-professional clubs until two years ago. Now I have started this experience with Torres with the U21 team.
"Last year we did really well, we arrived second on the league table. I am very happy here at the club, things are going well and the owners, the directors of the club have started a serious project and I am very happy to be part of it."
What about Italy and the national team's future under Luciano Spalletti?
“After that bad Euros that we did, I think that things have changed and now the team is functioning better and our performances have been better than those during the summer. Now we can see that things are completely different and also our coach Luciano has changed something in the team because he also admitted his mistakes during the Euros.
"And for that he was very brave because not everyone would have made mea culpa and Luciano showed that he is a great coach by accepting the mistakes he did himself. I think that the national team is on the right way and the team should continue this way and I am positive for the future."