Cosmi praises inspirational Iaquinta
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Article summary
Udinese Calcio coach Serse Cosmi was full of praise for hat-trick hero Vincenzo Iaquinta after the impressive victory against Panathinaikos FC.
Article body
Udinese Calcio began their first UEFA Champions League campaign in fine style with a highly impressive 3-0 victory against Greek side Panathinaikos FC. The Group C points were secured courtsey of a sensational hat-trick from Italian international striker Vincenzo Iaquinta.
Serse Cosmi, Udinese coach
The match went exactly as I had hoped before kick-off and the result is what I wanted. However, this is only the start of the competition and we have five more matches to play including a difficult trip to Greece. Because of this result we can now go into the remaining group matches with more confidence. Iaquinta's performance inspired everybody around him and gave us that extra buzz. In the last three seasons he has improved so much as a player. The match was over when we scored our second goal and you could see Panathinaikos lose heart when that went in. We played well, could have scored more, won convincingly and didn't suffer any injuries or suspensions. It was a perfect night for us.
Alberto Malesani, Panathinaikos coach
I do not think the final score was a fair reflection of the game. We were still in with a chance of getting a result at 1-0 down but the brilliance of Iaquinta turned the match in Udinese's favour.
