Mancini warning for below-par Inter
Monday, January 21, 2008
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Roberto Mancini insists FC Internazionale Milano cannot "underestimate any team" after Parma FC almost spoiled the coach's 200th match in charge.
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Roberto Mancini insists his FC Internazionale Milano side "cannot afford to underestimate any team" after Parma FC came close to spoiling the Nerazzurri coach's 200th match in charge of the Serie A champions.
Ibrahimović double
Esteban Cambiasso had put Inter in front on Sunday but the visitors responded, with goals from Luca Cigirini and Andrea Gasbarroni putting the hosts' unbeaten league record under threat. However the game changed in Inter's favour three minutes from time, when Parma defender Fernando Couto was dismissed for handball on the goal line, with Ibrahimović dispatching the resulting penalty moments before firing an added-time winner.
'Too predictable'
"We didn't put in a great performance and Parma comfortably deserved a draw," said Mancini, whose side remain seven points clear of nearest challengers AS Roma. "We did not take the right approach as we underestimated our opponents. It was not easy to get back into the game. We were too predictable, especially as we were struggling on the flanks. This game must teach us a lesson. We cannot afford to underestimate any team."
Fifth place
Mancini, 43, lies fifth on the list of coaches with most matches at the helm of the Nerazzurri. Helenio Herrera, who led Inter to consecutive European Champion Clubs' Cup victories in the 1960s, is out in front on 366 matches, but Giovanni Trapattoni (230), Árpád Weisz (212) and Eugenio Bersellini (207) appear more realistic targets. "I hoped I would reach this achievement and to spend a lot of time on the Inter bench, but everyone does when starting out," admitted Mancini. "I began coaching quite early so I hope to amass many more matches in my career."
'Miracle'
Mancini, Inter's eleventh coach since Massimo Moratti took over as president in 1995, added. "To notch up 200 games with Inter is a miracle." If the UEFA Champions League contenders can continue to dominate the Italian scene as they have done recently, Mancini will no doubt celebrate more important milestones on the Inter bench.
