Chivu on what happened at halftime: “What I said stays there…”
Cristian Chivu spoke after the game about how his Inter team changed from one half to the next in the big match that ended in a comeback draw against Roma: “A problem with attitude? I’ll say it again: what I told the players at halftime stays there, and I’m not going to come out and say certain things. It’s the absolute truth, and that’s what I think; I’m convinced they know it too. And we’ll improve.”
“In the second half, however, in terms of attitude, determination, quality, and character, we played a great game: we faced a great team, and it was a good match. We showed a little more than we did at the start of the season—I’d start there, and we’ll work on ironing out certain things that remain between us.”
“It was a good point on a tough field. In soccer, there are two phases: with the ball and without the ball. And we need to improve our play without the ball. We need to do better in our approach and in understanding the opponent: that’s part of the process—we learn, and we move forward. We’re in a better spot than last year—back then we were in a worse position: we’ve faced two direct showdowns with Napoli and Roma, and we have 13 points, which is a good result. There’s still a long way to go, but I’ll take the positives from this second half. A Premier League-style match? The quality in Serie A has improved—both in terms of quality and intensity. The way people view soccer in Italy is changing, and that’s a good thing. We’re on the right track, though in soccer, balance is always key. Fortunately, I like what I’m seeing in Serie A. The new rules have added excitement and eliminated dead time. These days, you can’t catch your breath. Sometimes you have to accept that a game might end 4-3 or 4-4. But that’s the beauty of it. Am I the fastest at Inter to reach 100 points? Those are just numbers—we’ll keep moving forward.”
A tribute to Sandro Mazzola, who passed away today at the age of 83: “I join in expressing my condolences; we have lost an icon and a true legend. We send our condolences to his entire family.”
