Time for some of Mr Coppa Italia's quotes after the Milan derby:
Mancio explains Vieira brawl
Saturday 28 October, 2006
Roberto Mancini hailed his “fantastic” Inter side for their character to beat Milan in a seven-goal thriller and explained the row with Patrick Vieira.
“Playing in 10 men with Zlatan Ibrahimovic carrying an injury and Patrick Vieira limping with a sore foot is not at all easy,” said the Coach.
“I only had one substitution left and in this condition I had a few problems. On top of that, in the final 20 minutes I had nobody left to hold the ball up in attack, so we were under siege.”
Marco Materazzi picked up a second yellow card for taking off his shirt when celebrating Inter’s fourth goal.
There were mixed scenes at the final whistle, as some Nerazzurri players were jubilant, others relieved and Vieira was furiously trying to attack Mancini and assistant manager Sinisa Mihajlovic.
The former Arsenal man was angry that he had to carry on with an injury when Ibrahimovic was replaced instead.
“I had noticed that Vieira was in pain, but I thought he could make it,” insisted Mancini. “Ibrahimovic kept playing out wide, but was doing absolutely nothing. At the end Vieira got angry with me, but he had to stay on because I had no other central midfielders. So I preferred to keep him there.”
Once again the Nerazzurri risked throwing away a huge lead, this time 4-1 at one stage, but the Coach claimed the comeback was only prompted by Materazzi’s dismissal.
“If we hadn’t been left in 10 men, we would’ve scored more goals and not suffered any pressure at all. Red cards and injuries change the face of a game, but my men were fantastic to play like that in the last 20 minutes.”
Materazzi, famously unpunished for some crunching tackles in past Milan derbies, was sent off for pulling his shirt over his head.
“I’m not angry with the referee, as he’s just applying the rules. The problem is that the rules are pathetic,” explained Mancio. “You do so much to offer a spectacle to the fans and then this happens…”
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I didn't see anyone complaining when a Catania player got sent off for the same reason in the Sicilian derby against Messina!