Amorim Reflects on 9/11 While Praising Rising Star Cissè

Rúben Amorim walked into Friday’s press conference intending to talk about Lazio, training loads and a promising teenager. Instead, the AC Milan head coach briefly froze the room.

Exactly 25 years on from the terrorist attacks in the United States, the Portuguese coach reached for an analogy he instantly regretted.

“We have to get better during every training session,” Amorim said, speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Lazio. “It’s just like with plane crashes. That’s where you learn…”

Then came the pause. A nervous laugh. The realisation of what day it was.

“This is not a good comparison,” he admitted quickly, trying to row back while keeping the point alive. “But you understand what I mean. If something goes wrong, we absorb all the information and apply it in training.”

The stumble aside, Amorim’s message was clear: Milan, despite a strong start to the season, must treat every setback as data and every mistake as a lesson.

Cissè’s rapid rise

From there, the conversation moved to one of the main reasons for the optimism around Milanello: Alphadjo Cissè.

Last winter, the 19-year-old was still being heavily linked with a move to PSV. Now he is one of the early surprises of the Serie A season in a Milan shirt, with two goals in his first three league matches.

His stunning strike against Juventus did more than win highlights; it sharpened the focus of the Italian media, who now widely report that Cissè has an excellent chance of earning his first senior national team call-up next week.

Amorim did nothing to dampen that expectation.

“He is ready for it,” the Milan coach insisted. “But he needs time to mature. I saw a difference between his performances in away matches and at San Siro. San Siro is a difficult environment, so he has to adapt to all those small details.”

The message was both praise and warning. Talent is obvious. Consistency, especially under the San Siro lights, will take time.

“Let’s give Cissè time,” Amorim urged. “If he trains and plays with the national team, he will not be shy and will demand the ball. He is ready for it, but needs time to grow into the player he can be. He still has a lot to learn.”

Milan head to Rome with a teenager on the brink of international recognition and a coach who wants every error, on and off the pitch, to feed their evolution. The question now is how quickly Cissè – and this Milan side – can turn promise into something more permanent.