Lautaro Martinez is ‘very proud and happy’ to give Inter the third consecutive Supercoppa Italiana, beating Napoli, and reveals what was going through his mind as he celebrated the winner.
The Argentina international snatched the winning goal in stoppages by meeting the Benjamin Pavard pull-back from the by-line.
Napoli had been down to 10 men from the hour mark following the second yellow card for Giovanni Simeone and were holding on for a penalty shoot-out, as there is no extra time in the Supercoppa.
This is the third consecutive edition of the Supercoppa Italiana for Inter and their coach Simone Inzaghi, the eighth overall for this club.
“I am very proud and happy. We were eliminated from the Coppa Italia, so this was an important objective. We played very well against Lazio and needed a great performance tonight,” the striker told Mediaset.
“It was tough, we had a day’s less rest, we were not sharp, but I am proud of this team for bringing home the third consecutive Supercoppa.”
It HAD to be him! 🤯🇦🇷
Lautaro Martínez nets the winning goal for Inter Milan against Napoli in the EA Sports FC Supercup Final 🏆 pic.twitter.com/hJMvtyWbmi
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) January 22, 2024
Lautaro Martinez sprinted towards the pocket of Inter supporters who had travelled all the way from Italy to Riyadh for this match, taking off his shirt and screaming this celebration.
“I didn’t want to take off my jersey because of the yellow card, but the emotion took over and I couldn’t think. It was a unique moment, I scored my 100th goal in the Coppa Italia Final and today in the Supercoppa my 123rd goal allowed me to match a legend like Christian Vieri.”
On 123 goals for the club, Lautaro and Vieri are now the ninth top scorers in the history of the club.
After the players all lifted the Supercoppa trophy, they went and handed it over to the Inter supporters in the stands so they could hold it too.
Nerazzuri love with the Curva Nord (in Riyadh) 🖤💙#EASPORTSFCSupercup pic.twitter.com/kDQyWxX4PI
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) January 22, 2024
Magnificent win, by a magnificent Capitan.