Napoli's coach Gennaro Gattuso said he was delighted with the team's resolve after they battled to a hard-fought victory over Lazio in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals.
"I'm very happy because we've finally produced a really good performance. We played with hunger, character and the right spirit, showing real grit – something we had been lacking up till now. We were coming off the back of an embarrassing display against Fiorentina and it wasn't easy to get morale back up. But we went out there tonight and played with great intensity."
“Lazio have pace and power and to play against them the way we did tonight we needed the sort of mentality I always want to see from my players. Previously they had only shown it in spells but today we had that for the entire match.
"Now of course we need to keep it up. As I've said before, I love coaching this team because it's a great squad. And I'm sure that once we get a few things straightened out again – technically and mentally – we'll be able to produce some excellent results and start enjoying ourselves again.
"The fact of the matter is that, despite our potential, as things stand we only have 24 points on the board. We need to climb back up the table because it's our performances on the field that will determine how good we are. If we don't produce, we could end up looking over our shoulder more than at what we have in front of us
“I hope this win today will give us renewed energy and spirit. I want to dedicate the victory to the person who gave me the chance to coach Napoli and everyone else at the club who has supported me this last week.”
(Photo Getty Images)
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Source: legaseriea.it