Stramaccioni relieved with Verona win
Inter Milan manager Andrea Stramaccioni was a relieved man after he saw his side beat Verona 2-0 on Tuesday to progress to the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia.
By ESPNSTAR.com staff
The Nerazzurri were made to work against Serie B outfit Verona and only managed to find the breakthrough five minutes after half-time, with goals from Antonio Cassano and Fredy Guarin enough to see Stramaccioni's men through to the next round of the competition.
With Inter currently leading the chase of table toppers Juventus in the Serie A, Stramaccioni opted to rest several first team players for the game and gave a run out to several fringe players, including the likes of Cristian Chivu, McDonald Mariga and Alfred Duncan.
Stramaccioni revealed he was pleased his gamble eventually paid off against a a battling Verona, and pinpointed the inclusion of his fringe players as the reason for their stuttering performance.
"Verona made a great start to the match, I think they're one of the best sides in Serie B and have a great coach," Stramaccioni told Inter Channel.
"We increased the tempo at the beginning of the second half and opened up a two-goal lead.
"Only [Verona custodian] Rafael stopped us from scoring the third.
"It's not easy to start games well, plus on Wednesday we had three players out there - Chivu, Mariga and Duncan - who hadn't featured in a while.
"All three of them were part of the spine of the team, so obviously they needed a bit of time to feel their way back in."
Duncan, who made his first start at the San Siro on Tuesday, could hardly contain his joy at having made his home debut for the club.
"It was great, I dreamed of playing at the San Siro and as soon as I saw the fans I felt excited," the 19-year-old gushed.
"I'm very happy because I train with great players and know I've still got a lot to work on.
"I'm improving tactically and in terms of my positional sense.
"I found it a bit difficult with only two strikers ahead of me because I'm used to playing with three forwards, but things got better as the game wore on and I found the right position.
Inter will now meet either Napoli or Bologna in the quarter-finals of the competition next month.