APPIANO GENTILE – Diego Forlan spoke to Mediaset's Marco Barzaghi about the Nerazzurri's forthcoming Serie A clash with Chievo at the Stadio Marcantonio Bentegodi in Verona, an evening kick-off on Friday 9 March.
inter.it provides you with the full version of the Uruguayan striker's exclusive interview with Mediaset.
What went through your mind the other evening when the ball went in against Catania?
"For a striker, scoring is the best feeling you can get and in this case it was a long time coming in what has been quite a difficult year, because of my injury and because the team has been struggling. It was a tough match, we were determined to do everything possible in the second half to get ourselves level and maybe win it. In the end we couldn't quite manage it."
So that goal was liberating for you...
"It was a bit, yes. But I couldn't enjoy it fully because at the time we were still behind and we had to immediately pick the ball up and go looking for an equaliser."
Did you expect to have such a difficult start when you joined Inter?"This difficult, no. But it's not the first time in my career that I've been in a team going through a spell like this. I've played for different clubs and there have always been good times and not so good times. The players must know how to get out of situations like this: you have to work patiently and in this group we have the quality to change things."
We saw you training twice a day sometimes to get back into shape. Do you feel you have something to repay considering that you wear the number 9 shirt?
"I do feel a bit as if I have something to repay. But I'm on my way back now, I've played a few games in a row and I feel good. Hopefully I'll be able to keep it up: playing and scoring to win the games that we're so determined to win."
Could your goal the other night mark the start of something new for Inter too?
"Not only the goal but the whole second half. The team was in a tight spot, also given the mood in the stadium, even though we'd started well in the first 15 minutes. We found courage and pride after lots of games in which things hadn't been going for us, we turned things around and almost won the match. I think that can be the key moment."
Lots of your team-mates have explained that your pride was shaken up by Julio Cesar's half-time team talk...
"He made a great speech in front of us all: there are players here who have spent many years at Inter, better and worse moments than now. He said what all the experienced players of the dressing room were thinking at the time."
What did you make of the boos when Esteban Cambiasso was substituted off? Was it perhaps a bit ungrateful after everything he has given Inter..."As players we mustn't pay too much attention to what people say. You get these moments in football and the boos weren't only for him but also for me and the other players. It's normal when you're going through a bad moment and you're not happy with the way the team is playing. People come to the stadium to see their team win and if they want to boo because they aren't happy they are free to do so. We have to keep working as we always have, and improving because we've gone a while without winning a game. The experience that he and other team-mates have got will make him work even harder to help the team win the next matches."
On Friday you take on Chievo and then you have to turn around the 1-0 scoreline from the first leg in the Champions League against Marseille.
"Before the Champions League we have the Chievo fixture. We have to go there and we know it will be a tough game. So first of all we must try to do well on Friday in Verona, because it could help lift our confidence ahead of the game against Marseille."
Are you convinced that Inter can overturn the Champions League result?
"Yes. Every time I play I'm convinced we can win. Then of course you can get all sorts of results but the aim is always to win. We know they are a good team and they hold a one-goal lead after the first leg. We'll have to be careful because they are a dangerous side. We must do better and more to win."
What do you expect from the future?
"I have two years here and I'm very happy at Inter. For now let's try to finish the season well and get back to winning as soon as possible."
