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.
10 years of FIF
