It’s a shame Eagles scored – Rossi

Giuseppe Rossi was happy with his first Italy goal in over two years and the partnership with Mario Balotelli. But he insisted that it was a shame that the Italians allowed the Super Eagles to score twice in their friendly at Craven Cotttage.

“Of course I’m happy with the goal and the team’s overall performance,” he told Rai Sport after a 2-2 friendly draw with the Super Eagles.
“It’s a shame we conceded those goals when we appeared to be in control. We can go home happy with this game.
“More than the goal, it’s the performance that counts. We all worked very hard to honour this jersey and I think that’s what we did.”
This was Rossi’s first Azzurri goal since June 2011, as he was out for two years with a series of knee injuries and missed the 1-1 draw with Germany due to tonsillitis on Friday.

“It was nice to see the affection from my teammates. We have a great group of players and we’re all friends off the field too, so these are good foundations to build on.
“We have many great strikers, so any of them can play up front for Italy. The important thing is to give 100 per cent whenever we’re called upon.
“I never gave in and still have objectives to achieve, which I am slowly going through and hope to eventually get them all.”
Some have said the pairing with Balotelli is Good Cop, Bad Cop.
“We’re two good guys! We get on well, as does everyone in the squad. In all honesty, there wasn’t much time to prepare for this game. We did well, Mario gave me a great assist for the goal and played very well, so I’m happy for him. His goal will come as long as he keeps working like this.
“I was ill with a sore throat and fever, so I only managed to train for two days during this get-together.”
Diamanti curses Eagles woodwork
Alessandro Diamanti will “just have to keep improving on free-kicks” after hitting the bar in Italy’s 2-2 draw with the Super Eagles.
“I’m getting used to hitting the woodwork. It means I’ll just have to keep improving on my free-kicks,” the Bologna star shrugged on Rai Sport.
“We did well, I’m not sure how we ended up trailing within 10 minutes, but after the break we had a dozen scoring opportunities.
“I’m also disappointed the referee gave two minutes of injury time when there should’ve been 15.”
‘Alino’ Diamanti is one of the favourites to be in the 23-man squad going to Brazil for the World Cup.
“Whenever I come here, I keep my head down, work with a lot of humility and am at the disposal of the group whether I play or not. That’s the only way to be on international duty.”


VANGUARD