De Rossi devastated after missed chance
Thursday, April 10, 2008
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Crestfallen Daniele De Rossi said AS Roma's 1-0 defeat at Manchester United FC "would have been a different match" had he not put a first-half penalty over the bar.
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Over the crossbar
Trailing 2-0 from the first leg, Roma were handed a potential lifeline when referee Tom Henning Øvrebø adjudged Wes Brown to have fouled Mancini on the half-hour. However, De Rossi, who had scored the Giallorossi's winner from the penalty spot against Genoa CFC last weekend, sent the ball high over the crossbar.
'A different match'
"It was not a penalty to make it 2-0 in the last minute, but still I think the game would have changed if I had scored," said the Italian international. "I'm very disappointed and I think it hurts twice as much because I'm from Rome and a Roma supporter. We came to Manchester confident and ready to fight. The first goal was there, eleven metres away from me, but we all know what happened. It would have been a different match if we had taken the lead in the first half.
'Deeply sorry'
"I wanted to take the penalty as I did on Sunday against Genoa," added De Rossi, who scored one of Italy's spot-kicks in the 2006 FIFA World Cup final. "It was a highly-charged moment and probably I had too much time to think before taking it. I've scored penalties in important games like the World Cup final during my career but tonight I was less fortunate. I'm deeply sorry. I hoped that this would not have happened to me, especially tonight in a special game like this."
Domestic prospects
Although Roma eventually succumbed to a 70th-minute Carlos Tévez header – which spelled a third defeat at Old Trafford in the past 12 months – De Rossi remained upbeat about their prospects for the remainder of the domestic campaign. Roma sit four points behind Serie A leaders FC Internationale Milano with six rounds remaining and are also through to the last four of the Italian Cup. De Rossi said: "Now we will try to win the Scudetto. I think tonight we confirmed we are a great team and we want to win trophies this season."