ESP/ITA - Rafa likes his basketball

MILAN (Serie A) - Rafael Benitez has worked at some of the biggest football club in Europe.
 
The coach led Valencia to back-to-back appearances in the Champions League and later guided Liverpool to the title of the elite European club competition.
 
This season is his first at Internazionale in Milan – the defending champions of both Italy and Europe.
 
Football was not Benitez’s first passion.
 
"I really like basketball,” he said.
 
“I liked it even more when I was young.
 
“I played a little bit, I did the course and I have the basketball coaching certificate.
 
“I decided to study it as part of my degree at Isef (The Institute for Physical Education in Madrid) and I had the fortune of having among my teachers, some of the former Real Madrid champions.”
 
That a sportsman from Spain has a keen interest in basketball should come as no surprise since the country has the ACB and is also number two in the FIBA World Rankings behind the United States.
 
Every Spaniard, it seems, has a huge appetite for hoops.
 
Such are the demands of his new job that so far, Benitez hasn’t been able to become a fan of the Lega A.
 
"I was invited to watch Armani Jeans Milano play but unfortunately, I don't have much time," he said.
 
FIBA