MILAN – The day before the Nerazzurri make their bow in this season's Coppa Italia, Walter Mazzarri spoke to Inter Channel about tomorrow's game.
He started by describing what it felt like to step inside the San Siro as Inter's coach for the first time. "The first thing that came to mind spontaneously was to ask Milito – joking, of course – which bench was ours. I've been to this stadium lots of times before and that was the first thing I thought – that I'll have to get used to sitting in the opposite dugout. It was a very nice feeling though. Being able to look around this stadium without being caught up in the emotions of a match, you realise how inspiring and exciting it is. The pitch is beautiful. It's a fast playing surface because it's quite hard underneath and we needed to get used to the type of bounce it offers. Hopefully it won't cause us to make too many mistakes during the game tomorrow."
Doesn't tomorrow's match have all the makings of a proverbial banana skin? Mazzarri explained: "Yes, that's absolutely true, especially because it comes before the league season has even kicked off and we haven't played a single meaningful match yet. Regardless of who you're up against, you always risk subconsciously underestimating your opponents. I reminded my players that last year Cittadella were only knocked out by Catania in the dying seconds, and we all know what sort of season Maran's side went on to have. There are plenty of pitfalls in August fixtures. We must be aware of that when we go out there and take control of the game, showing that we're focused and paying attention to every little detail needed to win it."
What everyone wants, club, team and fans alike, is to get back into the winning habit at the Stadio Meazza. "I'd like us to start doing that right from the off and if that were to happen, if we did make it through to the next round, then we'd have to make sure we build on that. As I've said before, people who know me know I don't like talking about winning before the game - I don't like saying 'we want to win' beforehand. We must prove it by producing the goods and I think that's the best thing we can show all season."
Finally, Mazzarri spoke about factors that might influence his team selection: "Some of the lads are a bit more tired than others, those who played a lot with their national teams. Palacio, for example, was tired and he didn't even take part in the training match today. We can't use that as an excuse though. The lads need to recover, get some rest overnight then work well with the doctor and our other staff to put in a good performance tomorrow so that we have a chance of going through."
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INTERVISTA WALTER MAZZARRI VIGILIA INTER-CITTADELLA TIM CUP
