Roma coach Daniele De Rossi shared his frustrations with the Italian Football Federation’s lack of support for Italian teams. The Giallorossi coach was speaking after their 2-1 win over Udinese, a match which was originally interrupted due to the sudden illness of Evan Ndicka. Brian Cristante’s header from a corner by Paulo Dybala proving decisive in the dying momentsas the two sides played out the remaining 20 minutes of the match. After the match, Daniele De Rossi shared his insights in an interview with DAZN, reflecting on the team’s performance and the challenges they faced:
“The lineup? It was a tactical choice. Before the interruption, I noticed there was space on Spinazzola’s side. The second reason for this lineup is logical; I wanted to have as many players on the field who could score even without collective play, but with individual skill. I left out some starters like Paredes for this reason.”
Regarding his celebratory gestures, De Rossi humbly admitted, “I’m embarrassed; everyone is making fun of me. But I’m very happy for the victory and its importance in the standings, but also for morale. We were all a bit down after the defeat against Bologna. Winning today gives us confidence. I’m happy for the players; they behaved fantastically. Some players came here 100% sure they wouldn’t play. Yet they made the trip and celebrated after the match.”
De Rossi then addressed the issue of preparation time, expressing disappointment in the federation’s support for Italian teams compared to their opponents. He remarked, “There was incredible participation; these things move me. It’s a bit disappointing for such a result in a stadium like Udine’s, which treated us so well. We may be the first team in the history of Italian football to play a semifinal against an undefeated team, the champions of Germany, and our federation gave them one less day to prepare. We’ll go to Naples with two days of preparation, while they had a week-long retreat. But my players’ response makes me calm; we have a wonderful team of players.”
