Kalidou Koulibaly admits Napoli ‘could’ve done more’ in their 1-1 draw with Inter, but will continue to believe in their Scudetto dreams.
The Partenopei had taken an early lead through Lorenzo Insigne’s penalty, awarded for a Stefan de Vrij foul on Victor Osimhen, but didn’t make the most of their first half dominance.
Instead, Edin Dzeko came off the bench and pounced on a lucky deflection to fire onto the underside of the bar.
Serie A | Napoli 1-1 Inter: Dzeko keeps it honours even in Naples
“I think we could’ve done more, as we went a bit to deep in the second half and Dzeko scored an incredibly difficult goal from that angle,” Koulibaly told DAZN.
“We were a bit sluggish after the restart and could’ve done better, but we cannot be too unhappy, because a point against Inter is still an important result.
“We must continue believing because we’ve done well so far. It’s a pity, because without that goal, I think keeping a clean sheet would’ve seen us take home the victory. We must never give up, that’s the important thing.”
This was Koulibaly’s first game back since December, as he was at the Africa Cup of Nations, taking Senegal to their first ever triumph in this tournament.
“It was a bit of an odd week, I was in Senegal on Monday, today I am here playing for Napoli. It was a lovely surprise to be greeted at the airport, I went straight to the training ground, as I couldn’t wait to see my teammates.
“Now it’s up to make to make Napoli’s dreams come true. It’ll be tough, but the fans must know we will give 200 per cent.”
Napoli fans were chanting at the final whistle that the team must not give up its belief in the Scudetto race, while Koulibaly is seen as the future captain after Lorenzo Insigne moves on to Toronto FC.
“I don’t think we need to talk about this now, Lorenzo is the captain and symbol of Napoli. I live in the present, we’ve got a race to the end of the league and at the very least want to finish in the top four and anything more is a bonus, but we’ll work hard to achieve the bonus, which is what we all want.”