Gennaro Gattuso assures the Inter goal was ‘not David Ospina’s error’ and praises Napoli for reaching the Coppa Italia Final. ‘These lads are giving us everything.’
Christian Eriksen stunned the hosts with a goal direct from the corner flag within three minutes, but Dries Mertens equalised with an historic goal, making him the all-time club top scorer.
Gennaro Gattuso assures the Inter goal was ‘not David Ospina’s error’ and praises Napoli for reaching the Coppa Italia Final. ‘These lads are giving us everything.’
Christian Eriksen stunned the hosts with a goal direct from the corner flag within three minutes, but Dries Mertens equalised with an historic goal, making him the all-time club top scorer.
The 1-1 result was enough for Napoli to qualify 2-1 on aggregate, setting up a Final against Juventus on Wednesday June 17.
“We are facing a Juventus side that are accustomed to winning, have the mentality of great champions, so we can fight it out and have our say. We know that it’ll take a great performance to bring home the trophy.”
Lorenzo Insigne dedicated the result to Gattuso, who lost his sister to a terminal illness earlier this month.
“I want to thank the whole football world, as everyone was very close to me and my family. It’s been tough. I dedicate this to my family, my parents and my sister. We all loved her very much, it was a big loss,” the coach told RAI Sport.
“I like to have a good and honest rapport with all my players. I have to make choices at the end of the day, but having the option to make five substitutions is certainly helpful with a squad of this strength in depth.
“We are a team with a lot of quality. We tried to be even more aggressive and attacking in our pressing, but we’re still working on it and haven’t got the movements down yet. Once we do go under pressure, we know how to suffer and deal with it.
“We conceded a daft goal, but it was not Ospina’s error, it was an error in the positioning on the corner. After 90-plus days, we started where we left off.
“The squad believes in what we’re doing, works hard during the week and these lads are giving us everything. I think the quality level is very high and if we manage to defend and attack with humility, we can achieve great things.”
Gattuso is only under contract until the end of the season, so will he get a renewal?
“Fortunately, I am not interested in money, I just care about having the respect of those I work with. Contracts are worth little with me, as I fully admit that I can lose my temper and walk off, so I need to improve that about myself.
“It wasn’t easy today after 95 days, everything was strange about this experience. When we did get back to training, it was individually, then in tiny groups with social distancing, there were muscular issues, it was like training during the end of the world.
“We lost thousands of people, the world has changed, even coming to the stadium with masks and sitting far away from people in the street, all of it is strange. None of it compares to the devastation of losing so many people.”