Capello rues missed chance Sunday 28 November, 2004
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Juventus have seen their lead cut to four points after losing a 2-0 lead at Inter and both Coaches discussed the missed opportunities at the San Siro.
“We could have held the ball a bit better, but two fantastic goals from Inter turned it around,” commented Fabio Capello after the 2-2 draw. “The first goal was the decisive one, as before that there was only one team on the pitch.”
The Nerazzurri seemed dead and buried before throwing on Christian Vieri and Alvaro Recoba to join Adriano and Obafemi Martins.
“They put on some fresh legs and the key man was Vieri, who opened up the play for Martins and Adriano, so the first goal was entirely to his credit,” commented the Juve boss.
“Clearly we are a little bitter as we had the result in our grasp, but we did prove that we came here to the San Siro looking for the victory. We relaxed and were playing around with Inter, which you absolutely must not do against a side of this quality. Unfortunately our only regret is that lack of concentration and grit in the closing stages.”
The Bianconeri had put themselves in a commanding position with Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s penalty, but some say Francesco Toldo should have seen red for his foul on Marcelo Zalayeta.
“I never comment on refereeing decisions and we always accept them. I don’t want to spark any controversy,” added Capello.
Roberto Mancini also commented on that incident, but had another angle on the performance of the referee.
“Ze Maria was behind Toldo at the time, so he was not last man, while I am sure that Lilian Thuram challenge on Adriano was a penalty,” stated the Nerazzurri boss.
“Considering how the game was going, we can be happy with this draw. It’s incredible that we found ourselves 2-0 down with minimal opportunities for Juventus and a balanced match overall. The lads did incredibly well to get back and refused to give in until the final whistle, so they made me proud tonight.”
Mancio managed to recover from this seemingly impossible situation by throwing on four out and out strikers.
“When you’re 2-0 down you have to take risks to get back into the game and once we scored the first that belief really built up inside of us and drained out of Juve,” added the Coach.
“We should be getting a few more crosses in from Andy van der Meyde, but on the left we don’t have many players at our disposal who can perform that role. Giuseppe Favalli was meant to push, but he picked up an injury and had to come off.”
Christian Vieri proved decisive with that goal and admitted he was for once content with being a substitute.
“I am happy with my performance, as when I came on it was a tough situation,” said the striker. “Thankfully my shot went in and that really sparked the comeback, but our final 20 minutes were just great. The tactic with four strikers was fuelled by desperation, but in future at least we know it can work when we’re in a tight spot.”
However, former Juve man Vieri concedes the title race is probably beyond them after this result.
“15 points are certainly a lot, but we have to believe in the Scudetto and try to win each game as it comes without looking at Juve or Milan. I don’t think we lack character, but we have drawn a lot of matches we frankly deserved to win.”