MILAN – Still buzzing with excitement just moments after the final whistle, Andrea Stramaccioni gave Rai Sport his thoughts about Inter's last-gasp win over Bologna, a result that sends the Nerazzurri through to the Coppa Italia semi-finals. "I thought the game was over after Palacio scored... Then Diamanti got one, we had a bit of bad luck, Inter were virtually reduced to 10 men because we pretty much lost Cassano... But the team dug deep again and showed their mettle. We won it thanks to the strength of these lads. Inter kept plugging away out there and deserved to go through. We want to do well in this competition and we proved it tonight."
Afterwards, speaking to Inter Channel, the coach added: "I think the best thing is that Italian clubs are showing how important the Coppa Italia is to them, they all want to do well in it. I must congratulate Bologna but my players deserved to win this game. We go into the semi-finals now and whether it's Fiorentina or Roma who qualify, along with Juventus, Lazio and ourselves, it's almost the same as the top of the league – like a final four in basketball."Stramaccioni went on to praise "the fantastic performance of the Nerazzurri midfield" but admitted that "we struggled a little on the flanks". Pereira? "He got hit on his mask twice but he's a warrior. He never gave up, he never does."
