EURO 2012/ ITALY, De Rossi: "When Torres entered I had a few more problems"

© foto di Daniele Buffa/Image Sport

Italy was up to the situation. After the 1-1 against Spain, the Azzurri underline the good performance by the National team, but they are also already thinking about the upcoming match against Croatia. Antonio Di Natale is happy, coming off the bench and scoring the first goal for Italy in these European Championships. A goal that has a particular taste since the Udinese forward had failed a penalty kick against Spain in the last European Championships: “I am happy – said Di Natale – because I was sent in and after five minutes I scored. Pirlo gave me a great pass and I was good at taking advantage of it. I remember the penalty kick I failed against Spain four years ago, and scoring a goal is always a great emotion. It was a good match and two teams that wanted to win and did all they could ended up with a draw”. 

Daniele De Rossi had the same thoughts, after playing an excellent match in a role that was practically new for him: “This point is very good for us since on paper this was the most difficult match for us and we played the way we wanted to. My teammates were great with me. We played a good match and even President Napolitano complimented us. Now we have to move ahead and not just sit on this good performance”. As far as the decision made by Spain to not line up any forward, the Roma midfielder said: “When we went in to the locker room we looked at the lineup and could not find the forward, we thought that they would play like Barcellona, without forwards. We were a little worried because a center-forward gives you a point of reference, then I actually did better in the first half when Torres entered I had a few more problems”. 

Once again, Andrea Pirlo showed his class, inventing the assist for the goal scored by Di Natale: “I would give Italy a seven. This match – said the Juventus midfielder – has to give us confidence for the next matches, even because we still have not done anything”. One of the best on the field was Emanuele Giaccherini, praised after the match by Cesare Prandelli: “The emotion left after only a few minutes, on the field the only thing I thought about was what the coach had asked us to do. I am happy with the way we played, but this is just the beginning. We still have a lot to do”.