Mancini slams 'diver' Nedved Sunday 12 February, 2006
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Roberto Mancini has accused Pavel Nedved of being a serial diver to earn the free kick that allowed Juventus to defeat Inter.
“After the equaliser we tried to pour forward and get all three points, but Alessandro Del Piero scored a great goal. Having said that, Nedved is a diver. He always throws himself on the ground and the referees fall for it. This is not up for debate, it was a simulation and he must earn about 10 free kicks per game like that.”
Ivan Cordoba brought down the Czech international for the decisive set-piece, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Walter Samuel had previously netted in Juve’s 2-1 victory at San Siro.
The Nerazzurri were also hit by an early injury to Juan Sebastian Veron, who was replaced by Kily Gonzalez.
“Juve certainly had a brighter start, as our objective was to win and therefore we were a little bit nervous, but we took more control as the game wore on. Veron is an important player and to lose him in the first half created a few more problems, but the team did well anyway,” explained Mancini.
“Adriano did what he was meant to, as he helps to hold up the ball for his teammates, but he was facing a fantastic defence today and they hardly left him any space. I was hoping Obafemi Martins could trouble them with his pace, but knew he didn’t have 90 minutes in him, while Luis Figo could cause problems for Federico Balzaretti in a role that he wasn’t accustomed to.”
Inter went unbeaten for 21 games in all competitions, but have now fallen to two consecutive defeats against Fiorentina and Juventus.
“Recently we have been creating opportunities, but it’s the finish that we’re having difficulty with. We aren’t as sharp or cynical as we should be,” added the Coach.
“We are in second place along with Milan right now and these two defeats have been tough to swallow, but we must get back on track next week against Livorno.”
There was a strange incident after the match when Dejan Stankovic closed the door to the players’ tunnel on the television cameras.
“There was a bit of an argument,” explained the Serb midfielder. “I know how these things can be misinterpreted, so I shut out the cameras, but it never got more heated than a verbal row. Juventus earned this victory, there’s no doubting it.”
Luis Figo was one of the angriest and made his feelings felt after the final whistle.
“This is an absolute scandal,” slammed the ex-Real Madrid man. “The whole world must see what happened today.”
(from Football Italia)