Cannavaro and Del Piero: ''Exaggerated criticism, we are on Trapattoni's side''

October 14, 2002
FIGC.it

Cardiff - The captain and the number one player, two strong points of a national team penalized by injuries and a bit of bad luck. And hit by a series of criticisms that could certainly not go unnoticed. So, Cannavaro and Del Piero take advantage of the chance of explaining and strongly highlighting two points: the group is together and Trapattoni completely trusts the entire team. "Fortunately Trapattoni has a great experience, he has already experienced such situations - stated captain Fabio- we think he is calm and he gives us a sense of peace, he doesn't show any anxiety or fear. The group is by his side, he has no problems with the team. The team is made of great people, the right people. The coach really does not have to work hard to manage it". But of course it's not all perfect: "Of course Trapattoni cannot be happy when the team receives so many criticisms. But he works hard to improve it and so do we". The message of the Federal president certainly calmed Cannavaro and the entire team: "Carraro spoke with me and with Trapattoni, he once again confirmed his trust in the coach and the team. He told us not to worry, to work hard and try to win on Wednesday". Giancarlo Abete, the federal vice-president representative of the National team will personally bring Carraro's support to the entire team. Abete will arrive at the St. David Hotel in Cardiff, where the team is staying, on Tuesday morning and will closely follow the events both on Tuesday and the day of the match.

Even Alessandro Del Piero, who played an important role both in Azerbaijan and Naples, defends the team and Trapattoni. "A great performance for Trapattoni? Well, actually I try to play for everybody, not just for one or the other, even for myself. We all have a great relationship with the coach, regardless of what happened in the past. We solved our problems and now we are working together for the same objective". But could there be the risk of a team that is moving away from the people, from their fans? "I don't think we are isolating ourselves, I saw a lot of criticisms for Saturday's match. It certainly was not one of our best matches, but it wasn't a complete disaster either. The public was always cheering for us, we still have a great relation with people, with our fans. We hope, we want to do our best, always, European qualifications are very important for us. To reach this objective we have to do our best. And today is a very important day for us here in Wales, right before a very important match. We have to gain three points against a very good team. We all know they are better than they were three years ago. But we are not happy with Saturday's results and we want to do better".
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