Football's Dark Side: Napoli, Serie A Dreams & Union Omaha Success – Marco Milanese’s Untold Truth - E20

This week on The Back Stick Podcast, the boys welcome former Napoli and current Union Omaha defender Marco Milanese to the studio.
We delve into Marco’s incredible football journey — from training with Napoli’s first team and witnessing Dries Mertens' magic up close, to the heartbreak of a fallen Serie A contract due to agent drama, and the leap to the American college system.

We discuss his experiences with Italy’s youth national teams, how a bold move to Akron kick-started a whole new career path, and what it’s really like to defend in the USL.
Marco also reflects on a huge 2024 season with Union Omaha and opens up about his future ambitions in American soccer.

We Cover:

• Early days in Italy and coming through youth academies like Napoli, Torino & Parma
• Training with Napoli's first team & what made Dries Mertens so special
• Representing Italy at U15 & U17 level
• Why Marco's agent cost him a pro deal in Serie A
• Transitioning from Europe to NCAA D1 with Akron & UNCG
• Behind the scenes of US college soccer (including shaved head traditions)
• Pedro Dolabella appreciation moment
• Omaha’s playoff run, team culture, and future ambitions
• Marco's mindset on leadership, growth, and going pro in the US

00:00 Intro & Shoutout Friends Of The Pod

03:58 Early Football Days In Italy

09:10 Napoli: First Team Training Nightmares

11:54 Mertens Influence On The Young Players

14:35 Italy Youth National Team Experiences

16:03 Reece James' 'Grumpy Celebration' For England

17:46 Why Akron & Why Not Continue In Italy?

18:54 "Napoli Contract Fell Through Because Of My Agent?!"

24:25 Transitions & Adjustments To US College Soccer

27:38 Akron Shaving Heads Tradition...

31:02 Pedro Dolabella: A Word For The Legend

31:58 Reflecting on a Special 2024 Season for Omaha

36:12 Omaha & Chattanooga Players Watching The Game Highlights Together

37:34 Future Ambitions With Union Omaha

44:00 Extra Time

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Transcript

Jamil Roberts (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome back to the Backstik Podcast. I'm Jamil Roberts and I'm joined here as usual by Mr Dom Ocas. Domo, firstly, how are ya? And secondly, where are you in the world right now, mate? Cause you're all over the shop, you.

Dom Okus (00:17)
Yeah, good mate, just landed in London today. Literally landed, went into the office where I worked to give a presentation, took a nap and now I'm here to have this wonderful conversation. And it's funny, I'm going back to Austin in like four days, so I'm literally in and out. But I'm really looking forward to this conversation. But Jam, before we jump in, how you?

Jamil Roberts (00:35)
Wow.

I'm good, mate. I'm good. I've had a long day. I've had a long couple of days, actually. But busy is good. We've got a game tomorrow night. And yeah, just keep pushing and plugging away, man. The season's nearly done here in England. So yeah, it's good to speak to old friends like we are today. And this player, this man that we've got on the pod today, he's a mutual friend of a couple of friends of the pod.

So it's my pleasure to introduce Union Omaha's Mr. Marco Milanesi. Marco, how are you, mate?

Marco Milanese (01:19)
Hi guys, everything is good. Thank you for inviting me again. Very excited to be here. I've been watching some of the episodes. As you said, I watched some of Pedro's episodes, Declan's episodes. So I'm excited to be sharing some stories with you guys.

Jamil Roberts (01:36)
Yeah, for sure, man, for sure. Yeah, you brought up obviously to Pedro there and Pedro was actually who introduced us. We were just chatting off air about how, you know, for me Omaha away was my favorite away trip last season because obviously Pedro is there and then Max, you know, came on loan to you guys and obviously introduced me to yourself.

I no idea until I turned out that you went to school with Declan as well. you know, we're involved in good people, right?

Marco Milanese (02:10)
For sure, for sure we are. are. It's, you know, as you said, like Pedro, I mean, these last couple years has been like very exciting to be with him. We've been together basically every day, you know, every day. So he was a great friend. And Declan, of course, we've been together in Akron for three years. know, really like great guys, love to play with them and against them, professionally, at a professional level as well. So.

And we got to meet each other. We also played against each other in college, but we actually met each other when we played professional here in the USL. So it was amazing. As you said, amazing trips here to Omaha, amazing trips there to Chattanooga. So it was fun. It was fun.

Jamil Roberts (02:59)
Yeah, 100%, 100%. And it's funny, like Dom, we talk about it all the time about football being a small world, but I mean, like, you know, these conversations wouldn't happen without football, right? Like, and you think about it, like how diverse and how many players are in the USL nowadays from different backgrounds. Like, I mean, I know you didn't play in the USL championship or league one yourself, but like even...

Me and you going to school in West Virginia, two lads from England met each other and now we run a podcast together.

Dom Okus (03:34)
Yeah,

Marco Milanese (03:35)
Crazy.

Dom Okus (03:35)
yeah, it's mad. it's like, like even I think about it, right, so you think about our first episode on the pod, Kazaya. Kazaya sprayed for Spurs a couple years younger than me, so he would have been coached by and played with a bunch of the boys that I was in the Spurs Academy with.

and then ends up meeting you in America and we end up all meeting on the pod. And how crazy is that? yeah, football is super small world.

Jamil Roberts (03:55)
Yeah.

Yeah, but it's a good world to be in man. It's a good world to be in and I mean For for those that aren't familiar with Marco if you're listening or if you're watching I'm sure by now you can tell that the man is very Italian. So So the man's he's come up He's played for various teams in his youth in Italy now finds himself in Omaha. So I actually want to take you back for the beginning of the show, right and I want to just kind of

Dom Okus (04:16)
Hehehehe

Jamil Roberts (04:27)
Talk about you when you were a kid and sort of growing up playing and, you know, correct me if I'm wrong, but you played for Chievo, Parma, Torino, and then found yourself at Napoli. So, you know, what was it like, obviously, playing at big clubs like that as a kid? You know, and moving around a fair bit as well, you know? Was there any reason why you sort of jumped around as a kid to different clubs?

Marco Milanese (04:39)
Yes.

For sure. So, Kevo, Kevo, was actually like, I didn't play for Kevo, was kind of like a long tryout, you know, I was there for like two months, you know, but it wasn't like a real luxury, I'm under contract with them. So I would take them out, but for sure, like Parma, I remember it was the year that they failed, so they went bankrupt. So at the end of the year, all the contracts went out, they get relegated to, think, four division.

So we were forced to leave as an academy player if you wanted to say. Yeah, it was a mess. It was a mess. I have some crazy stories about that year. We didn't have anything since January. We didn't have rides to the stadium from school. We didn't have people that washed our clothes. It was a mess. And it was my first year in a professional academy away from home. So it was, I would say, very...

Jamil Roberts (05:43)
Wow.

Marco Milanese (05:52)
learning moment to take care of yourself. It was good. And then from Torino, I stayed six months, but I was playing in a division that was not the top under 19. It was kind of like a lower division with them. It was kind of like under 18. So in January, basically I stayed six months, and in January Napoli told me, like, oh, you want to come play for us in the top division.

I was like, yeah, and then I was close to home, so I was like, I took the opportunity to go back. And luckily, you know, like, it went very good and I ended up like, also doing some appearances with the first team, so it was like a very good choice for me. yes, moving around, it was not easy, but at the same time, I think he helped me, you know.

getting better in socializing with very different players, also meeting different players, meeting different people, or whatever I went. So it was a very good experience to grow as a man, from boy to man. So I enjoyed that, sure. And of course, it wasn't easy because I was always far from home. Yes, sorry.

Dom Okus (07:07)
Just so quick.

Oh no, sorry mate, I was just going to say a quick question from me on that. When Napoli approach you, obviously you're young, It's youth football, under 15s, 16s, maybe 17s, 18s. Have you got an agent? Or are they just tapping you up on the side of the pitch? How does it work?

Marco Milanese (07:26)
Mm-hmm.

No, I had an agent. I had an agent at the time. It was no important agent, but it was like a guy that followed me since was... since Parma. And he's the one that helped me go to Torino first. And then this guy from Naples, I he was like a manager from the youth academy. He texted him and he saw that I was there and like...

Before that, course, I told my dad I wanted to play the top division. Here, I don't think I'm wasting time because I was wasting a year. And they made it happen, basically.

Dom Okus (08:15)
Plus, plus, plus. And just one more question, did they have to pay for you then at that age? Or you can just decide to go to Napoli and kind of just leave?

Jamil Roberts (08:16)
Yeah, right.

Marco Milanese (08:24)
So,

have like different options, but I did like, I signed kind of like an article or something about my contract, could you know, like basically you sign this stuff, the team signs this stuff as well, and like you're free. I don't know how to call it. Like I think it was article 72 or something like that. I don't know what was the name, but.

It basically gives you the chance. It just works with the academies though. With the academies. Yeah. So luckily they didn't have to pay for sure.

Jamil Roberts (09:02)
Right. Right.

Dom Okus (09:02)
Got it, got it, got it.

Jamil Roberts (09:08)
Yeah, and you kind of before we sort of dug into that there, you sort of alluded to the fact that, you you had some opportunities with the first team at Napoli. you know, one thing I always like to find out about lads, because I always remember my first training session with with Plymouth Argyle's first team in England. And let's just say it didn't go so well. You know, I was chasing shadows, mate.

Marco Milanese (09:33)
You

Jamil Roberts (09:34)
So, you know, not necessarily a first game, but like the first time that you're called into first team training with Napoli, you know, how did it go? What was that feeling like? You know, do you remember like anything distinctively about that day?

Marco Milanese (09:43)
BWAH!

I remember very well, it was an enjoy... I was happy. I was happy to be there, but at same time it was awful. You know when you make the reserve team, you practice with reserve team.

Jamil Roberts (09:54)
Hahaha!

Marco Milanese (10:08)
So some of the guys used to be called from the U19 to go with the first team to do like the 5v5, 7v7, whatever it is. That was the worst days you can be in the pitch. players that are mad, they don't want to be there. Everything is your fault, know, crazy tackles. You have to just play and don't say anything. It was crazy. was crazy.

Jamil Roberts (10:20)
Yeah.

Yeah, literally.

Mate, one thing I always like to talk about is like, did you guys do Rondos before you went over or no?

Marco Milanese (10:40)
Yes, we did rondos. Not every time, but yes, we did some rondos. Of course, you don't even have to say, I would already walk in the middle of the rondos and grab the penny. You don't even say like... For sure, for sure. You don't even have to say anything. Crazy. Or like the two touches we used to do. The two touches on the ground. Bro, shooting at me, bro. Shooting. Crazy.

Jamil Roberts (10:42)
You

Yeah!

Yeah, honestly, and

Dom Okus (11:09)
mate, it's so funny.

Marco Milanese (11:10)
Shoot.

Jamil Roberts (11:10)
It's

so funny because it doesn't matter whether you're in England, whether you're in Italy or anywhere Everyone's got the same stories about how just the the the senior lads they just they just take advantage of you in those moments You're in you have a season ticket in the middle of the Rondo you're doing two touch and they're shooting at your shins like

Marco Milanese (11:27)
Yeah.

Dom Okus (11:31)
Thank you for watching!

Marco Milanese (11:33)
Everything is your fault.

Dom Okus (11:36)
Literally, literally.

Jamil Roberts (11:40)
mate, that's hilarious. That's hilarious. all right, so thinking back then, I know obviously, you you were called in to do some, you know, I guess reserve session, shall we call it. What about, you know, you mentioned that you had some opportunities to play in and around the first team, right? And make some appearances. So, you know, in the days leading up and sort of on those early games that you played as a young boy.

Marco Milanese (11:53)
Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

Jamil Roberts (12:08)
you know, who were some of your teammates and who were the, you know, we'll get into it a little bit deeper later in the show, but you know, some of the players that really took you, you know, took you aside and looked after you in that first team.

Marco Milanese (12:20)
Okay, so there was one guy that he was also like my roommate when we used to be on the road or like when we had double sessions, you know, his name was Diavara. He played for Roma under-legged now. I don't know where is he, where is he now, but he was also young, he was 97. So he was very good player at the time because he used to play with them and we used to hang out a little bit more with him.

But from the main guys, would say the best one that used to talk to me, make me understand that I was lucky to be there, like he was Mertens.

Mertes was for sure. When we used to do, before the session we used to do some gym, he was coming and telling me, you need to come earlier, you need to make the coach see you're working more so you get more chances. Because of course I was getting called with them at the beginning but I was still like, I was not changing with them, I was changing in another locker.

And then, you know, like the more you go, of course, the more you get used to be there and you get called like also like in the main locker, then you start getting something, you know, but at the beginning it's not easy, not easy. This player, like I would say him, Mertens, also like Zieliński was also young because he's 96, you know, so at the time we used to hang out with him a little bit more.

Jamil Roberts (13:55)
Yeah, mate. you've name dropped a couple of good ones there. I Mertens was some player, wasn't he?

Dom Okus (13:56)
Dope boy footed.

Marco Milanese (14:00)
Mm.

It was good. It was good.

Dom Okus (14:04)
Unbelievable player. Like, wow.

Marco Milanese (14:06)
Yeah,

Jamil Roberts (14:07)
You know,

Marco Milanese (14:07)
yeah, it was the shade Daniel. It was good.

Jamil Roberts (14:11)
it's funny because like me when I was your age mate, like I was playing with Mertens on FIFA and he was putting his arm around you in the gym.

Dom Okus (14:18)
Hahaha!

Marco Milanese (14:20)
Hahaha

But you asked me, I was doing the same thing like three months before. It was crazy. It was crazy.

Dom Okus (14:23)
Different world.

Jamil Roberts (14:28)
mate, football

works in mysterious ways and obviously, you know, in that time as well, I just wanted to touch on, you did you, you've made a few appearances, right, for the youth national teams for Italy and whatnot. Were they just kind of camps or were they, you know, any tournaments or whatever that you played in?

Marco Milanese (14:35)
Yes.

Yeah.

There were camps,

it was not official matches. It was camps when I was in under 16 or 17, think 16 from the national team. But I was playing with the under 17 of Parma though. So was like one year before. It was the games against, even remember, like it was, how do you say in English, Macedonia, I think.

Jamil Roberts (15:08)
Yeah, I know.

Yeah,

yeah, yeah.

Dom Okus (15:16)
Yeah.

Marco Milanese (15:17)
Yeah, we did like some camps at the beginning and then some friendly games against them. Great experience. Great experience. I wish I would have done more. When you hear the national anthem, it's crazy. It's crazy.

Jamil Roberts (15:24)
Yeah, I can imagine, mate. Yeah, mate, I can imagine. we've had... Yeah, mate, that was

just literally just what I was about to say, mate. Like, you know, I'm trying to think back now, obviously, but Dom, like, we've had Kazza, who's played for England, youth national team. Obviously, Grievo, yeah, with New Zealand, yeah, like, you know, just...

Dom Okus (15:46)
Grievo, yeah, full national team, yeah.

Jamil Roberts (15:52)
Like hearing, that's why I ask mate, cause I just, can't even imagine the feeling of representing your country and hearing the national anthem. And I even go like as deep into like England played the other night and we played, was it out? No, it wasn't Albania. did it? James, Rhys James free kick.

Dom Okus (16:10)
No,

Uhhhh

I wanted to say it because you said I've been there but that was the first game.

Jamil Roberts (16:20)
Yeah, I can't

Marco Milanese (16:21)
me check.

Jamil Roberts (16:22)
remember. Latvia. Yeah, so we just played them in the World Cup qualifier, right? And like, when I talk about like how proud I would be.

Dom Okus (16:25)
Love you all. Yeah.

Marco Milanese (16:25)
I love you.

Jamil Roberts (16:33)
I was annoyed, I was screaming at the TV because Reece James has just scored one of the best free kicks that Wembley's ever seen and he walked off and he wasn't even smiling. And I'm screaming at the TV like thinking if that was me, all of my clothes would be off, like I'd be running around Wembley like, you know? And he just walked off like it was another day at the office. Like it really rattled me.

Dom Okus (16:53)
It's true though.

Yeah, it's mad.

It's actually mad. I would have done about 75 knee slides. Like just all over every corner of the pitch. Knee slide, knee slide.

Jamil Roberts (17:03)
Hahaha!

Marco Milanese (17:04)
Hahaha

Up and down, up and

down.

Jamil Roberts (17:08)
You

Yeah, honestly like yeah, I can't imagine

Marco Milanese (17:17)
I'm a player

that I celebrate when I score in practice. I imagine if I score, I goal like this in the Wembley Stadium.

Jamil Roberts (17:24)
Hey,

mate, mate, and you are defenders. To be fair, mean, Dom dropped back into centre half a bit in his later career. So there's three defenders here, mate. We don't score many, so when we do, we make the most of it. Yeah, mate. And I guess that's a good place for us to move on, right, because...

Dom Okus (17:38)
Yeah, literally.

Marco Milanese (17:38)
For sure. For sure. For sure.

Jamil Roberts (17:46)
You know, you make the move over to the States and you know, I don't want to kind of dwell too much on your college career. Obviously you played with Acre and you played UNCG. know, but how did like, why did you make that decision? Why was America the one for you after Italy was there just kind of not much opportunity there for you? Or was it somewhere that you always saw yourself, you know, potentially exploring the option?

Marco Milanese (18:10)
No, didn't see it before. I actually remember the day I got in contact with the college world. was like I wrote an article on the journal of this guy that actually was playing for Lazio.

and he decided to come to the I was like, I the article I to my dad. I was like, this guy went from, know, under 19, Lazio to the college, you know, like, it's crazy. He was the first, probably one of the first guys that did that in Italy. was, we're talking about 2016. So that's how I started to know about this world. But then he was very, acting very quickly, very quickly because

Jamil Roberts (18:27)
Mm.

Marco Milanese (18:57)
What happened with me and Napoli was basically like talking about the agents, know, with the before like after like I moved with the Let's say with the first team in Napoli. I got a very good agent very good agent

which had a lot of like Serie A players and basically what happened was he trying to renew the contract for another player that was in the first team of Napoli and I had to sign a new contract as well.

Basically what happened was they got into a fight, my agent and the director, which was Giuntoli at the time, which is the Juventus now, Juventus one now, they got into a fight and Giuntoli was like, okay, then we're not gonna deal with you and any of your players. I got in there, yeah. So I was waiting, I was in school, I did all the exams for my last year of high school very quickly because they said,

Jamil Roberts (19:52)
my god.

Marco Milanese (20:01)
we have to call you for the pre-season, you know, after it was like starting in July, beginning of July. So I was like, did everything with school to make it like the first to do the exams and everything. And then July 1st, I was waiting like this, no calls, July 2nd, July 3rd, July 10th, without saying anything, my agent didn't tell me anything until like I see July 10th, which was the date when the guys with no contract list come out. It's like basically like we didn't renew the contract.

of this guy, this guy, this guy, this guy and I see my name in the no contracts. I was crazy, I was like furious, furious because it's something you cannot control, it's something that it's part of soccer, it's part of the football world.

You know, so after that, was like very, very mad that the whole system, not only like at my agent, I was like, fuck, what did I play for until now, you know, if these things happen? And then I remember I had some offers from third division in Italy, but also there like it was a period where like the pay were not good enough, especially because the player that don't have contract, have to pay it.

compared to guys that maybe they go alone from don't know from Napoli from Milan from Parma they go alone so they don't have to pay it so they don't want to take guys that don't have contracts

Jamil Roberts (21:27)
Yeah.

Marco Milanese (21:31)
So they were like, yes, we can give you just this though, or like, I don't know, something like that, like this type of offers, when it's not really a project behind you, it's just like finding a team. And then I decided like, okay, I'll contact this agency. I wanna go to US. And my dad was like, what? Where are you going? You know?

Jamil Roberts (21:51)
Hahaha

Marco Milanese (21:54)
Now we say like, Marco did a great decision. So that's why I came to US. let's say because I was mad at the system in Europe, in Italy. Crazy.

Dom Okus (22:10)
Crazy, crazy

story. And I think what's interesting to me is that it doesn't sound like, I don't know, right, but it doesn't sound like you didn't get a contract because you weren't good enough. It sounds like you didn't get a contract because your agent and the club just weren't getting along, which is even more frustrating, right? If it was just a thing of like, listen, we don't think Marco is good enough, you know, we think he should continue his footballing journey somewhere else. But it's more so just they couldn't agree times for whatever reason.

Marco Milanese (22:27)
Yeah.

Dom Okus (22:38)
And you couldn't even be privy to the situation to like, you know, even push your agent out of the way and be like, listen, like what are you offering? Like, let's talk. So it's just, it's super frustrating.

Marco Milanese (22:44)
Yeah.

Jamil Roberts (22:47)
Yeah.

And that's the politics of football that sometimes, I mean, it happens at all levels, right? It happens in League One, happens in Championship, happens in MLS, it happens in all levels of football, even down to the semi-professional level.

Marco Milanese (22:49)
Yeah.

Dom Okus (22:54)
for sure.

Jamil Roberts (23:06)
Sometimes people from the outside, they don't realize the politics that goes into football and how people get contracts and why some people seem to maintain a career. I I guarantee you that all three of us could sit here and we could do an entire podcast on the players that we've seen in our lifetime. And we go, how did he not make it pro or how did he not play in the premier league or in Serie R and MLS? Do you know what mean? And then, and then on the flip side of it,

Dom Okus (23:31)
to the sun.

Marco Milanese (23:31)
So sure.

Jamil Roberts (23:34)
we could probably do another podcast on players that you go, how the fuck did he make it there? Or how is he fucking doing that? You know? and...

Marco Milanese (23:43)
I have a lot of guys, I did a lot.

Crazy.

Jamil Roberts (23:49)
And

and yeah, man, like this listen everyone's got the path and some people is meant to be and some people it's not and like but when it's taken out of your hands, man, I that's when it's the most frustrating but yeah, I'm a crazy story and and listen

Marco Milanese (24:04)
Yeah, that's football. That's football. That's football. You have to know it. The thing is, they don't prepare you for it. When you're a kid, you think, oh, you're a dream. That's your dream. You're going to play good. You're going to get your chance. If you play good, you're going to play there. But at the same time, it's a very dirty world behind it, I would say.

Jamil Roberts (24:07)
Yeah, that is.

Dom Okus (24:25)
One thing I do want to talk about quickly before we dive into your kind of professional career here in the US is how did you find adjusting from Italy to the US? The reason I ask the question is because, and I'm sure you won't mind me saying, but my close mate Luke, who I went to college with from Rome, I think he was actually in that series academy, funny enough, as a kid. He moves over and in his freshman year in the spring after the season,

Jamil Roberts (24:26)
sure.

Dom Okus (24:54)
probably put on 20 pounds because just going to Walmart, drinking coke, eating a bunch of Kit Kats and Doritos. Like he was just loving it. He was just like, man, we don't have all this stuff at home. And he was just indulging in kind of when those and all this kind of crazy stuff. So like, did you have a similar experience? Maybe not that doing that, but like a massive shift in what you were used to at home versus America.

Marco Milanese (24:59)
Damn.

Haha.

Good.

For sure, I remember, especially because I came in a little bit arrogant, like in the college world, I came in thinking it was going to be easy, because honestly I didn't know. I didn't know the level, I didn't know. I never watched a college game before. So I came in and I remembered. And also the football we play in US is different from the football we used to Italy.

A lot of pressing, know, like high intensity, transitional. Like in Italy you don't see a transition, or even if you try you play transition. It's always like we stay back, you know, like try to break us down, you know? That's how we play.

Jamil Roberts (25:50)
Yeah, don't see a cinema field of sprint, do you?

Marco Milanese (25:57)
But, so I can't, was not,

in terms of food, I always like being like a guy that, you know, very, they pay attention to what I eat, you know, I never been like a guy that likes too much chocolate or this is all. I didn't put weight, but I remember the first month to adjust to the different like transitional game. I was like, what's going on in the game? You know, like I was dead, dead. The big test, crazy. The beep test, like I failed like three,

Dom Okus (26:13)
Peace.

It's

Marco Milanese (26:27)
times I had to do an anachron they were crazy

Dom Okus (26:28)
I'm

Jamil Roberts (26:28)
You

Marco Milanese (26:33)
Crazy.

Dom Okus (26:35)
You

Jamil Roberts (26:39)
We've had this conversation about preseason fitness before and listen This guy right here You two can relate to each other when it comes to fitness tests

Marco Milanese (26:39)
It's sweet.

You

Dom Okus (26:51)
Yeah, I'm not

Marco Milanese (26:52)
Bro.

Dom Okus (26:53)
on

it. not on it. hate what, but like, listen, I'm not a Farah. I've hit some of the football. What are we doing here? Like, what's with this long distance running? Yeah, like, we're here to play football. We're playing football or not. Like, yeah, I can run a bit and I'm fit enough to finish the game, but all of these stupid tests that we were doing, man, I was just like, let's just get them done so we can kick a ball,

Jamil Roberts (26:59)
you

Marco Milanese (26:59)
We're not tracking field play.

I don't know I don't know about the gym but also the gym for me like it was a crazy shock like I was doing like Power cliff like anything like this. I couldn't even do it never done in my life. I was like who we doing here? It looked like the Marines and then in Agron they shaved our head In Agron the freshmen they shaved our head bro lifting crazy. I was like what's going on?

Jamil Roberts (27:28)
Hehehehehe

Dom Okus (27:31)
Yes.

Yes.

Jamil Roberts (27:40)
Yeah, mate, that Akron

tradition is insane. I've had this conversation with Declan before and honestly, mate, like, I don't know what your hairline's saying. Dom, you've got a good hairline. But I swear to God, if I moved over to the US and I'd gone to Akron, I swear to God, I wouldn't, I would have said I'm not playing, I'm transferring, I'm not shaving my head.

Marco Milanese (27:44)
You too.

Dom Okus (27:50)
You

hahahahah

Jamil Roberts (28:02)
I promise you, and I've always been so dead serious about this because I would never recover. And I'm sorry, a semester of college soccer is not worth my hairline for the rest of my life.

Marco Milanese (28:03)
That's it.

Dom Okus (28:07)
Thank you.

Marco Milanese (28:09)
It's true. It's true.

Dom Okus (28:16)
No, I'm just,

Marco Milanese (28:17)
For sure.

Dom Okus (28:18)
I mean, I'm

Marco Milanese (28:19)
For sure.

Dom Okus (28:19)
the same way. So back in the day at my college, they used to shave heads. And I've always said, if that was still a thing when I got there, I probably just would have been ousted by the team because I would have just been like wrong and strong and just been like, I'm not doing it. So what are doing now?

Jamil Roberts (28:32)
Yeah,

like there's one thing for me doing an initiation song, right? I mean personally, I love them. think they're funny. It could crack whatever but like to do an initiation of shaving someone's head like come on now like that's not me. I'm not I'm not on that. I'll pay whatever you want. I'll pay whatever fine because because this is not recovering

Dom Okus (28:35)
Yeah. Yeah.

You're taking it too far. Yeah. Yeah, I agree. I'm the same.

Marco Milanese (28:50)
You

Trust me, was a big fight. Big fight, people were cutting my hair. But then the seniors were like, you're not part of the team if you don't do it. You just came to US. You don't want to feel isolated after three days you're there. It was crazy. was a... Fuck. Crazy.

Dom Okus (28:58)
Peace.

Jamil Roberts (28:59)
Hey, it looks

Dom Okus (29:12)
So

Jamil Roberts (29:19)
Yeah, it's a crazy tradition. We did it at Chattanooga. And I personally didn't agree with it, but all of the lads that were even, basically their first professional games, their professional debut, it was like a club tradition to shave the lads' head. And this was last season, mate. So we had a lad.

Marco Milanese (29:34)
Did you shave the head? No.

No.

Jamil Roberts (29:42)
Stefan Svitanovic, who was 27, who made his professional debut and the lads were on about shaving his head. And I turned around to him and I said, Steph, you're 27 years of age. Do not like, do not give in to these like 22, 23 year old boys that are telling you to shave your head. Like just say no. Like, he didn't do it. Thank God. But like, yeah, is. Yeah, mate.

Marco Milanese (30:04)
Crazy.

Dom Okus (30:06)
Okay, good.

Marco Milanese (30:08)
That was crazy, a professional is crazy though. Professor Levy is crazy.

Jamil Roberts (30:12)
Nah, I couldn't.

Dom Okus (30:13)
Also that's like a big moment

right, you want pictures and stuff, you don't want to have like your patchy, bold, lumpy head on display in your first professional game, like what the hell?

Jamil Roberts (30:19)
Hahaha

Dom Okus (30:28)
Like...

Marco Milanese (30:29)
The bad part is not even like getting bald, like getting shaved. The bad part was like for three days you had a bad haircut in Acro. Like he's not just shaving, like I had like like all here it was bald and just so I had just this hair you know so like if you see me from up front it was good and then turn around was all... No hats!

Jamil Roberts (30:37)
Hahahaha

Dom Okus (30:37)
Yeah.

Marco Milanese (30:52)
You have to go in class, no hats, crazy. If they see you with the hats, like you have to pay five. Tough.

Dom Okus (30:56)
Okay.

Jamil Roberts (30:59)
my

Dom Okus (30:59)
man,

Jamil Roberts (31:00)
god

Dom Okus (31:00)
that's so good.

Jamil Roberts (31:02)
See like it's funny don't get me wrong. It's funny, but like if it was me not a chance i'm transferring

Marco Milanese (31:03)
Peace.

Dom Okus (31:06)
No.

Marco Milanese (31:06)
Look who's

calling, look who's calling.

Dom Okus (31:07)
No.

Jamil Roberts (31:09)
Yeah, but real

Marco Milanese (31:12)
Pedrinho is calling. Rick Thigh. my god.

Dom Okus (31:13)
Hey, there we go.

Marco Milanese (31:18)
I'll call you later. It's fine.

Jamil Roberts (31:19)
What a legend, did you see he

scored his first goal the other day, yeah?

Marco Milanese (31:23)
What a player. What a player. I don't know if you know, but he just went in because he was in Brazil for his visa. And he called me, like, Marco, I just came like Thursday, practiced like two days and I'm going to the game. Came in like 20 minutes, scored the winner, first win of the year for them. Legend. What a player. Crazy player.

Jamil Roberts (31:25)
Yeah.

Yeah.

Mate, what a guy, what a guy man. Honestly,

Dom Okus (31:44)
Too easy. Too easy.

Jamil Roberts (31:47)
I, yeah, what a guy. I love him. I love him so much. It's just, I've got nothing but, nothing but beautiful words to say about that man. I hope he's watching. But let's get back to you, mate. And just kind of touch over, obviously. You boys at Omaha, like let's call a spade a spade.

Marco Milanese (31:52)
What I got?

for sure.

No, I see.

Jamil Roberts (32:10)
best team in the league last year, won the double. Obviously with all the everything surrounding, you know, the updates and health of Misiak as well, you know, it must have been just kind of give us a little reflection on what, what must have been like a special year for you boys in more ways than one.

Marco Milanese (32:31)
No, as you said, especially here, for many reasons, for many reasons, would say, you know, first of all, as you said, for me, Shaq, which was like a devastating news when we heard it the first time.

like for everyone like coaches, staff members, know, like the people in the office, everyone was feeling in, you know, like that we had to do it for him, you know, we had to win for him, we had to, you know, make the year remarkable for him because it was a very, very hard moment for him, for his family and for the team, honestly, like every time

would go in the field thinking about him every time. And if you see him fight, when Pedro scored in the final, which is a great moment for yourself, the first thing he did was went and kissed the Mischa jersey. so for that, he was like, that's why I said also in another podcast, before the final, we already knew we would have won. There was no chance we would have lost that game because we had a higher purpose.

And also, besides sad things, it was a special team because we felt like a family. You have been around us when we were not on the field, so you felt like we were kind of like brothers going to the field and just enjoying playing together. And also, you didn't want to give up on them during the game. You were able to make that tackle, score that goal because you wanted to do it.

Jamil Roberts (33:54)
Yeah.

Marco Milanese (34:14)
for your friends not only for your for your job that's why like I think he was the real

Jamil Roberts (34:19)
Eh.

Marco Milanese (34:21)
Difference with other teams but and then of course, we the as you said We are like good players good players that like I would say like we had good experience in terms of like guys that play in MLS like Meshach like PC at the beginning of the year Steven dos Santos that was like leader like 35 years old I remember 85 minutes lost the ball Sprinting all the way back to get it like 35 yards like if you see this stuff like you know, you're gonna win, you know, there's no

No other way you can lose because if he does it you have to do it like double because I'm 20, 25, he's 10 years older than me. We had very, very good leaders, would say, and a mix of leaders, experience, talent. was a very, very good team.

Jamil Roberts (35:15)
Yeah, mate, 100%. And obviously we've had this conversation with Pedro as well. And he echoes, he echoed everything that you've just said, you know what mean? And like you said, like I was, I did, I was fortunate enough to not only obviously play against you boys last year, but you know, be with you boys off the pitch as well. And you're spot on. Like if you compare like how your group was with each other, you know, there was like 13, 14 Omaha guys, you know, in the apartment.

Marco Milanese (35:44)
Yeah.

Jamil Roberts (35:45)
everyone chatting with each other and then realistic with us like there was three or four Chattanooga players, know, whereas I can imagine some away trips for you boys was a little bit more together when you maybe made some some activities outside of the hotel. So, you know, and then yeah. But yeah, some team bonding.

Marco Milanese (35:59)
Yeah, I like how you described it, I like it. Something bonding.

This is to call the team bonnie

Jamil Roberts (36:13)
But

mate, like one of my favorite memories, and you just reminded me there, like off the, when we were talking before the episode started, but it was the game where, it was one of the Jägermeister Cup games where you guys beat us and.

Marco Milanese (36:29)
Yes.

Jamil Roberts (36:31)
You've got five or six Chattanooga players and like 11, 12 Omaha players sat in Pedro's apartment and we're all watching the highlights of the game we played earlier and just like cracking jokes about it, you know, like whatever. And that like that energy that you boys had, it was just infectious. Like, do you know what mean? It felt like such a good group to be a part of.

Marco Milanese (36:41)
Amazing. Amazing.

No, no, as you said, was amazing. Amazing. honestly, like, it wasn't the same with every team, of course, like with you guys, I don't know, maybe because we had some teammates in common, like, so it was, you know, in the game, was fights and everything, of course, like, because you're there to win, but after the game, friends and it's a good side of the sport, you know, that you don't see often. You don't see often.

It was amazing to watch the game together after and make comments. It's something that I've never done before, so was an amazing experience. I couldn't believe it. It was amazing. Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Jamil Roberts (37:27)
No, I've never done it before and I doubt I'll do it again to be honest Yeah,

and obviously, you know we're looking back so, you know, it'd only be right now to sort of look forward and you know, you're back you sign your new contract with Omaha and and you know, Obviously the gaffers back, you know Dom's back in Omaha Resigned yourself and and you've kept a good

good core group together. know there's been a few that have left the club, you know, what, what do you see as kind of the future for Omaha now? you know, on the field, I know you're going into what third season with the club. So, you know, obviously you're, you're becoming kind of a, an important player in more ways than one for the club moving it forward. So, you know, what do you see in what's your, your, of your ambitions for 2025.

Marco Milanese (38:20)
No, for sure. Now, when you're a third-year player, you start to be, as you said, important for different reasons. When I first came in, I was just trying to earn a spot, earn a job, and try to play my best. Now I have little bit more responsibilities, which...

It's something that like it's not the first time I've been like, you know, like in leadership groups and stuff before. So it's something that it's not the first time doing it, but I know it's a hard job. You know, like it's not easy because you need to be an example for everyone every day in practice and in the game, of course, you know. So as you said, yeah, we kept a core group. We 14 players returning, which is a good amount of players in this league. But at the same time,

We had like 10 new players, which is almost half of the team. So it's important now for us moving forward that we create the same set up we had in the last years, which is like creating a family environment. People that love what we do, we love to come in and do our best because I think that's what DOMA are.

coach is good to make, know, create this family environment like where people care about each other and want to give 100 % for the guy next to you. You know, that's what we're trying to do now. And, you know, creating that chemistry that was part of our success. And of course then we have to, you know, be good players in the field and like make good decision. That comes with, you know, right now there is high pressure because you're coming from a double season when

You've been successful the last two seasons. It's not easy. It's not easy. It's going to be a tough year. It's going to be because the pressure is on top and every team wants to beat us now. So you're going to get the best game from every team in the league. So it's going to be even more difficult, I would say, than the previous years.

Jamil Roberts (40:32)
Yeah.

Dom Okus (40:32)
Just

a quick question on that. Is that something you speak about? The fact that you kind of won the double last year and there's going to be a lot of expectation. Do you talk about trying to replicate that success or do you just take it kind of game by game?

Marco Milanese (40:47)
Of course it's the objective of this club every year to win. They're being used to win almost every year here. It's not of course like...

like you feel too much pressure, it's not like they're like, okay, we have to win, we have to win like this, know, like, but at the same time, feel kind of like some responsibilities because for the other guys, you know, and myself have done in the past years, then, you the new guys feel this pressure, they don't want to have a bad year, you know, so like, it's kind of like feeling off the success, feeling off each other, I don't know how to say it, but it's kind of like, you know.

the standards that we established in the previous year, the lads feel this pressure to keep the standards high. That's what we're trying to do with the new guys that came in, because it's...

It's what we're trying to establish with the guys that have not been part of this team from the previous year. it's not easy. It's not easy because we don't have a long preseason like in Europe. It's like one month probably of preseason. So we have to try and build this chemistry, build this mentality.

But as we always said, it's a marathon, not a sprint. Until June, we were third to last. And then when we clicked, we up winning all the games, like 12 games in a row, top of the league. After having done that, I'm not afraid, even if we lose the first game, it's fine. We just need to start working harder and getting ready for...

Jamil Roberts (42:20)
you

Marco Milanese (42:40)
when the real games come.

Jamil Roberts (42:43)
Yeah.

Dom Okus (42:44)
Sure, not for sure. Makes sense.

Jamil Roberts (42:47)
Yeah mate, and I mean you're spot on and that's kind of how American sports are kind of set up, right? Like not necessarily the team that's the best the whole year isn't always the one that lifts the big one, you know? So, you know, it's a little bit of a weird adjustment, I think. For me, like I found it a bit strange, but you know, at the end of day, it doesn't make the...

Marco Milanese (43:00)
For sure.

See you.

Jamil Roberts (43:12)
doesn't make the champagne taste any worse when you lift the trophy at the end of the year if you weren't first the whole season. So, nah, I'm sure you boys will smash it. Like you said, the clubs ever since its first years, I mean, I remember Ilaos was the centre back for the first two years of...

Marco Milanese (43:20)
for sure.

Jamil Roberts (43:32)
of Omaha and they were at the top end of the year even in the first year let alone the years now so you know success is kind of instilled in the club and I'm sure you'll carry it on this season with the new crop. But I think that's a good time for us to kind of move on to our I guess what we like to call it is our staple piece of the show, Miele. So I'm actually going to hand you over to Dom.

Marco Milanese (43:58)
Okay.

Jamil Roberts (44:00)
and he's going to take you through extra time on the backstick podcast.

Marco Milanese (44:01)
Yes.

Nice.

Dom Okus (44:06)
man, we're

really getting into our groove with this thing, man. So Mila, if you're not familiar, this is our longstanding tradition on the Backstik podcast, where I take you through four questions. I am your host for the most, you know, on the social medias, the Instagrams, the Twitters and the YouTubes. They're calling me Steve Harvey with a skin fade. You're watching this on YouTube now. This is where, this is where the gradient is mental. anyway, listen, I'm going to take you through it, but.

Marco Milanese (44:14)
Okay.

Hahaha

Jamil Roberts (44:28)
SHARP!

Dom Okus (44:34)
If you've made it this far and I've made you laugh, I need you to click the subscribe button. If you're listening on Spotify and Apple, go and smash a follow, go and smash a like, go and smash a subscribe because I know everyone's really enjoying the content. Now Mila, our first question is, who is the best player you've played with?

Marco Milanese (44:49)
Yes.

Play it with, and it's a lot. That's a tough question.

I want to say a center back because I always like... It's not like you're going to probably say what, but mean, not really, but it was a great... For me, like, great example, like, for how I played, the way I played was Raul Albiol when we were in Napoli.

Dom Okus (45:09)
You're gonna upset some people, it's okay.

Jamil Roberts (45:29)
Wow. Yeah.

Dom Okus (45:29)
Well, I mean,

Marco Milanese (45:31)
Crazy player. Never miss a pass.

Dom Okus (45:34)
career, right? Like, played for the national team, had a great career in La Liga, so yeah, not good pick. But I'll be on.

Marco Milanese (45:36)
Yes. Yes.

No, for sure.

It was honestly like... I mean, way I see a center-back has to be good on the ball, clean. I never saw him miss two passes in a row, maybe one sometimes. Crazy play.

Always the good decision. That's why I like, think the good player, you can see the very, very good players, the decision they make on the ball every time. Like they always the right decision. Always. Big player. He's not the best player, but for me as a center back, I'm going to say him. And I have his jersey as well. My hero.

Dom Okus (46:04)
sick

Hola. Hola. Hola.

I like it.

Jamil Roberts (46:25)
Love it, I love it.

Dom Okus (46:26)
I like

it. like it. All right, moving on swiftly. Who is the best player you've played against?

Marco Milanese (46:34)
Probably

Donnarumma, I would say, when we were young. He's probably the guy that is... I mean, he's having a good career, I would say. He's the captain of Italy.

Jamil Roberts (46:53)
Yeah, yeah, you could say that.

Dom Okus (46:55)
Not too bad, decent.

Decent little career or whatever, yeah, it's been alright.

Marco Milanese (47:00)
This is a career.

Jamil Roberts (47:02)
Yeah

Marco Milanese (47:05)
Because the best player can be, you know, like a different, different, like I played, for example, against a lot of players and like in the academies. But for example, like I played Moise Keane, like he was two years younger than us. Came in again, he was playing at Juventus at the time, came in, scored two goals, won the game for them, and he was two years younger.

Dom Okus (47:18)
Mm.

Marco Milanese (47:27)
So like, of course, like there is a but the best, you know, like in terms of like, I have to judge their career because it's also different position. So Donnarumma probably the best, the best.

Dom Okus (47:40)
Talk about a young Donnarumar, what was he like? Because obviously he's massive. I remember seeing him when he jumped on the scene in 17, 18. Was that the same when he was a kid, that he was just an absolute unit in the goal?

Marco Milanese (47:45)
Massive.

I actually

played against Donnarumma since we were young because he's close to Napoli. Before we went to Prozacademy we had this tournament of amateur players, the best amateur players from academies, they do it by region. And they had to make this tournament, I remember like...

I saw him, we were traveling with the boat to go to Sardinia, where the tournament was held, and Donnarumma was like 13 years old, like...

Huge, huge already. But at the beginning he was kind of shaky. At the beginning he was kind of shaky, like he made some mistakes, you know? Like he wasn't like, this player, what a keeper right away. Like he built himself, I have to say. Like he did very well. I mean, they did very well with him and Milan, for sure.

Jamil Roberts (48:28)
You

Dom Okus (48:47)
Got it, got it, got it, got it, makes sense. Okay, this is the one that trips up 95 % of our guests. You're gonna lose some friends over this one, but it's okay. If you had to pick three teammates, past or present, to go on a night out with, who would you pick and why?

Marco Milanese (48:55)
Okay.

I mean for sure Pedro has to be there Pedro Dola Bella is the first guy I call if I wanna have a night out Let me see the other two Say it, it, what a guy

Jamil Roberts (49:10)
I'm

Dom Okus (49:21)
Okay.

Jamil Roberts (49:23)
same mate.

Marco Milanese (49:34)
I wanna see... Wow, they...

We count college or not? just...

Jamil Roberts (49:42)
Yeah,

yeah, yeah

Dom Okus (49:43)
Yeah,

yeah, yeah, everyone.

Marco Milanese (49:45)
Weekend college. Damn. Then there is like this guy, I don't know, his name is Paul Hernandez, which was my teammate in Akron. Spanish guy. One of the best lad that I've, I actually saw him in Barcelona this winter. This winter, what a guy, like I loved him. Greasy energy, you know, like it's a guy that lights the party. Every time, classic Spanish guy.

Dom Okus (50:14)
Thanks.

Marco Milanese (50:16)
So him, have to say as well. And this other guy from Akron, Federico was an Italian guy. Federico is his name. He actually bowler, played in Serie A as well, bowler. And he came to US because he broke his knee, part of football. he did, like I never been, you know, like...

Dom Okus (50:36)
Wow.

Marco Milanese (50:41)
I've been in this kind of situation but this is another part of football that is scary. But a big bowler in and out of the field. Let's say it this.

Jamil Roberts (50:53)
hahahaha

Dom Okus (50:59)
Hilarious, hilarious. Seems like a very adventurous group. Let's say that. A very adventurous group.

Marco Milanese (51:05)
Yeah, yeah, I

don't know if we we happen to get out all these guys together. I know what would happen. I don't know I don't want to know

Jamil Roberts (51:13)
mate,

you put two Italians, a crazy Spaniard and a crazy Brazilian together, you're not coming home.

Marco Milanese (51:19)
No, it's a crazy combination. Crazy combinations.

Dom Okus (51:21)
Chaos.

Marco Milanese (51:25)
No, but of course like... Sorry, but of course like I have to choose three, but there is more. I hope that all my friends don't get offended by Isma.

Dom Okus (51:27)
Go, and then

disclaimer

in there. I love it. I love it. I love it. All right, cool. Just to round us off then, a little bit more of a wholesome question. What would you say is your biggest achievement on the pitch so far?

Marco Milanese (51:52)
Yes.

Achievement in terms of winning stuff, you mean like what I feel more proud of.

Dom Okus (52:11)
Yeah, let's say what you're most proud of.

Marco Milanese (52:14)
I have to say getting on the bench with Napoli. That's probably something that is... I know I was very, very fortunate to do that, which at the time you don't even realize. At the time I didn't even realize what I was doing. Thinking back, it was amazing to be 18 years old, traveling, having this experience with them because...

I mean, it's very, hard. I'm going to do it again now at 27. so I and also like seeing, you know, so like the my the face of my dad when I told him I called I was called on the bench and it was a very proud moment. Like I could see he was proud of me. Like is what, you know, honestly, like without my dad, probably I would never like.

Jamil Roberts (52:45)
Yeah

Marco Milanese (53:10)
would have made it so far because he's the one that like pushed me. was a player as well. So he's the one that like pushes, pushes me since day one. And it was one that like he always told me like, you can make it, you can make it, you can make it. So when I, when I told him, I felt very proud.

Dom Okus (53:30)
Amazing, amazing, amazing. And it's funny how much like the achievement coupled with the family being proud has been like a theme throughout this podcast for us. It's like a bunch of folks have said their biggest achievement is I did this thing and my family were able to see me do it. Or I did this thing and seeing how proud my family were like really made me feel good. So I think that's been a thread throughout.

Jamil Roberts (53:30)
Yeah, that's amazing,

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, man, I love that. I love that.

Marco Milanese (53:54)
It's it's why we play,

you know? It's why we play, it's why we start, you know, to make, I don't know, your dad, your grandfather proud. When you're young, you know, like you don't start, like, because they're the ones that introduced us to the game, you know, so like, when you start, you know, making a name for yourself or like you make achievements, you know.

It's first of all because of them, would say, because as I said, without these guys that push you, it's very hard to keep going. And when you see they're very happy while you're doing that, they're like, I don't think you're going to find someone else more happy than you, if not your dad or your mom or yours, someone else. So that's why.

Dom Okus (54:44)
Yeah.

No, for sure, for sure. Well, that wraps up Extra Time. I've been your host here the most on Mokers and I'm going to kick it back to my boy Jamar to close us out.

Marco Milanese (54:53)
Haha

Jamil Roberts (54:56)
Yeah, thanks again, mate. Thanks again. That was superb. 10 out of 10 as always. yeah, yeah. Just keep them coming, mate. Just keep them coming. like Dom said, I think that's a good time for us to wrap up the show. I think this has been really good, man. I really enjoyed this one. I knew it was gonna be good, but I mean, at least...

Dom Okus (55:02)
I tried, I tried.

Marco Milanese (55:03)
Amazing,

amazing.

Dom Okus (55:07)
Thank you, thank you.

Jamil Roberts (55:22)
not even just for the listeners, for me from a personal perspective, right, like Mila, I've always known sort of the, I guess from hearing from Pedro and whatever, you know, the short version of your story, right? And I always planned on, you know, getting you on the pod because I think it's a story that needs to be heard to more people than just, you know.

Marco Milanese (55:37)
Mmm.

Jamil Roberts (55:46)
co-workers shall we call it, each other in the USL system, right? Like I feel like, you know, and the story that you shared there about, you know, the realities of football sometimes that it's not always about, you know, how well you play that gets you a contract at end of the season. There's so many things that go into it and you know what, mate, like I'm just happy that you found a home down in Omaha where, you know, you can carry on playing and...

Marco Milanese (55:50)
Yeah.

Thank you.

Jamil Roberts (56:10)
And, and may as I said, you're a top guy. So I'm just, you know, you for coming on the show and, yeah, it was fun. But yeah, as I said, let's

Marco Milanese (56:13)
Thank you so much. You too, guys.

Thank you so much. Thank

you so much. I want to say thank you for inviting me because this is the type of podcast that I like. You know, as I was saying, like I've never been part of like this, you know, kind of podcast where you can chat, you can have a laugh, you know, so it's it's very an interesting format that I think like you're doing great. And hopefully I can get, I can get to meet Dom in person as well. So we can have some fun together.

Dom Okus (56:47)
Oops.

Marco Milanese (56:49)
If you want to come down to... I know for Germany it's hard but if you get to the US and want to come down to Omaha whenever you want, you're going to be my guest.

Dom Okus (56:50)
Hahaha!

Jamil Roberts (56:50)
Yeah, yeah.

Dom Okus (57:02)
I appreciate that man, thank you for the kind words. And yeah, I'm in Austin, so I will definitely have to try and make that trip and come see you and come see the team and, you know, see all the great things that Pedro and Jam have said about you and the rest of the boys.

Marco Milanese (57:16)
For sure.

You have my number, so whenever you want, just text me.

Jamil Roberts (57:21)
Hey, and Mila, just a little one for you as well. Dom is actually a big time DJ. So if you need someone to be the life of the party, this is your man.

Dom Okus (57:21)
Appreciate it man.

my god.

Marco Milanese (57:27)
Really?

We actually missing one. We missing one big time, you know.

We miss you.

Dom Okus (57:37)
Yeah,

we'll sort that out. We'll get it sorted out. Only off-season. We'll get it sorted out.

Marco Milanese (57:44)
Nice, nice.

Dom Okus (57:46)
It's

Jamil Roberts (57:46)
Oh, awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome. But like I said, it's a good time for us to wrap up. So on that wholesome end to the back stick, would just like once again for myself and Dom, Mila, thank you for coming on the show. For everyone who's made it to this point, you're 58 minutes into the podcast. Please like, please subscribe if you're on YouTube. You can find us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, all of them.

Marco Milanese (58:04)
Legends.

Jamil Roberts (58:13)
go subscribe, go like, give us a five stars, it's all appreciated and we love you guys. without further ado, from myself, from Dom and from Mila, that's been the back stick and we'll see you next time.

Marco Milanese (58:23)
Thank you guys.

Dom Okus (58:25)
See next time, peace.