Giovanni Trapattoni
“I’d say the lads showed real character and a desire to win,” assured Trap after the final whistle in Baku. That almost got the better of us early on when Azerbaijan closed up, but we did well and these three points are very important to get a good start to the qualifying campaign.”
“Vieri is not 100% fit and also had a small muscular problem,” revealed the tactician, “and I substituted him to make sure it didn’t get any worse. Everyone can improve their fitness levels as the season continues. It is good to get this victory after quite a rough patch in the World Cup.”
"Clearly we still need to improve," noted Trapattoni, "as we will face tougher sides than Azerbaijan in this campaign. Yugoslavia are a real danger in this Group."
“Del Piero has put himself at our disposal to play in this role and for a while yet Totti won’t be able to hit top form due to his injury. We’ll see what happens when the Roma man returns to full fitness.”
Alessandro Del Piero
“I play in a deeper role at Juventus now,” he pointed out, “and I always said I was willing to do this for my country. But playing there once is one thing, doing it all the time is another.”
“I am not adapting as such and don’t want to go back over this conversation all over again.”
“I am obviously happy about the goal, but I am more content with the victory. We really needed these points after a difficult few months and it is an important step towards qualification.”
“The important thing is that with each passing game in which we have a convincing performance we gain a little more in confidence.”
Damiano Tommasi
“We could frankly have scored more,” said the Roma midfielder, “but we were unlucky to hit the woodwork with Filippo Inzaghi.”
“For some reason when we know that three points are on the table we step out onto the field with another sense of conviction compared to friendly games. We know there shouldn’t be a difference, but there is.”
Fabio Cannavaro
“It was good to get a win in my first captaincy,” commented the Inter defender, “and although they were playing on home turf we never felt really threatened.”
“The important thing was to win and show the Coach that we put in 100% in effort and maintained possession for long periods.”
“I took a knock on my right knee and it does hurt a little, but I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Gianluigi Buffon
“If you’re going to play with three strikers then you must leave your opponents extra space at the back,” claimed the goalkeeper.
“We were all tense due to the last few months, but myself in particular as for a ‘keeper facing opponents you have never seen before is tricky. You never know where the shots might come from.”
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