We spoke with our FISTF World Cup team captain, Christian Filippella, in the first of a series of interviews with USA team members.
ASA: Can you describe the feeling of representing the USA at the World Cup?
CF: Playing for the US has a very special meaning, having played for my birth country, Italy, in the first part of my table soccer life. The US represents my new home, my new citizenship, and my new life. Wearing the US shirt and playing in the World Cup again feels like a rebirth to me.
ASA: It’s been four years since the last World Cup in Gibraltar: how has your game changed since then?
CF: To be honest I haven’t played in a couple of years. I am not sure how I will perform. Having been away from the game for almost 15 years in 2001-2015, I believe that I’ll still be able to play at a good level. But it’ll be hard to reach the semifinals again [like in 2018], considering that I have not trained or played any major tournaments since 2019.
ASA: How are you training for the World Cup?
CF: I am going to Italy 2 weeks before the tournament and will train with my brother [Filippo Filippella] and some friends.
ASA: What are your individual goals for Rome and what are the prospects for the U.S. team?
CF: My goal is to try to reach the semifinals again and help bring the open team into the last 8. Hopefully, all our players can go through the group stage and get as far as possible after that. It’s hard to make predictions at the World Cup. The best players in the world are there at the top of their game. Personally, I feel that I could easily not qualify out of my group, but if I do then I have the same chances as any other player to win the cup. Historically, I either play an amazing tournament or not at all and I can tell that from my very first games.
Also, I feel that this may be my last time at the World Cup in the Open category. I wish that I had not stopped for so long so to have had other opportunities to play and win. When I look back at the 1990s, it’s kind of incredible that I was never called to play for Italy at the World Cup in the Open category, considering the amazing level of my game back then—this was one of the main reasons why I stopped playing.
Looking ahead, I just hope to play one last great tournament like I know I am capable of. Winning the World Cup for the US would be a memorable achievement hard to repeat. Listening to the American national anthem would bring tears of joy to my eyes and give me and my teammates goosebumps.
