MILAN - "I don't know if I'm a man for the derby but we won. That I do
know..." Andrea Stramaccioni can smile at the end of his first derby as
Inter's first-team coach. He explained to Sky Sport Italia: "For us this
game was important and spectacular. The first half was perfect, and then there
were a few incidents. There was bitterness after the penalty awarded
to AC Milan, but I had to set the players back on the winning path that we had
started on. The team showed a great reaction after Ibrahimovic's goal. We can
talk about things that didn't go well, like the three-minute spell in Parma,
but I want to look at the positive side. Since I've been here we've earned more
points than AC Milan. The comments by president Moratti? I'm happy to hear them but I'm sorry – as an Interista – that no one points out that the
president's ideas and plans are very clear. They go beyond this one match and
don't depend on whether I'm here or not."
The interviews continued and Stramaccioni then spoke to Mediaset: "It was
a beautiful game, played without calculations. And in the end, overall, I
believe that Inter deserved the victory. The president has a clear plan in
mind. As Inter supporters, seeing those images of Juve's victory makes us even
angrier and hungrier for the next season." The coach then continued his
analysis of the match, stressing that "in the most difficult moment
Pazzini gave us a big hand in turning the match around. I calmed the players
down at the end of the first half, that's true. We had played at least 35
perfect minutes, so we had to get back on the right path, playing our game. It
was also probably for this reason that we reacted after Ibra's goal, without
giving up even when it was at 3-2. Then we went on to score a fantastic goal
through Maicon. Inter played for Inter."
The coach then spoke to Rai, explaining "just how lovely it is to win a
match like this. At halftime I tried to look at things in a different way to the players. I tried to transmit calm because Ibra's penalty
had thrown us off our balance a bit. A win in the derby has a different
flavour. We realise that a third-place finish is very difficult but we're not
making calculations. We're going to Rome to win the game and then we'll see
where we are. Seeing Juve celebrate charges us up to build a great Inter.
Moratti's ideas about this are clear."
Then during the press conference Stramaccioni sent out a special thanks to the
Nerazzurri fans: "They were fantastic. And if we consider that overall
this was a negative season for Inter then it makes it even more important. It
makes you understand just how strong and important the Nerazzurri support is. It's
something powerful…" said the coach smiling.
