AC Milan coach Maurizio Ganz spoke to the Milan TV’s microphone after losing the Coppa Italia final to AS Roma on the penalties and shared his thoughts on the match, how it could have ended differently, and much more.
Here are his words:
On the match:
“It's just the beginning. I am sorry because we wanted to take home the Coppa Italia but, like Roma, we played a great game, we had much more opportunities than, but we were unlucky, even in good circumstances, then penalties are a lottery and they were way better than us on the penalty shootout, but during the game, we had important opportunities and they are barely dangerous.”
On how to face this defeat:
“Football is just like this. At Sassuolo we got the result we needed and Sassuolo was disappointed, this evening Roma did get theirs and we were disappointed, but there is one thing for sure, it was the sixth game against Roma, and we have not lost a single one, well, disregarding that we lost in the penalty shootout today. So, we have to break through even better, next year we will still be there to fight, and we will be giving them a hard time.”
On the physical cost of the season:
“Sure, the players felt a bit of cramp, a bit of tiredness, it's been a long season, our we’ve changed two players during the game, I thought it was enough, but the rest of the bench was also fantastic during the game. We wanted to win; we really gave everything and when you give everything you must hold your head up high.”
On how the game could have ended differently:
“We had so many occasions, probably in three of those, I think, with Tash and Agard, we had to have a little more courage to pull the trigger, we hit the crossbar, we had 2, 3 chances with Yui and a lot of others in their penalty area so, you know, we couldn't have done more than that to win but then, to lose in the penalty shootout it’s tough, I would rather lose before than in the penalties, but it went this way, but a big thanks for these fantastic girls, these warriors and a thank you to all the fans who are here tonight in this beautiful stadium. They were disappointed, but then we went to thank them, there were applauses for what we have done this year. We must not forget that we made it to the Champions League and this anyone will take away from us.”
Image credits: acmilan.com