Giampaolo hails team’s character: “Fantastic reaction to moment of difficulty”

Fresh from watching Sampdoria defeat Roma on home soil, Marco Giampaolo appeared for post-match ready to sing his players’ praises.

“We deserved to win this game,” the Blucerchiati coach began. “This result is down to the group, which responded to difficulty as a real team.”

Giampaolo sought to stress that victories like these only come about if you have the entire squad onside.

“The strength of this team is shown by those players who so far have played less,” he continued. “Alvarez was excellent when he came on, and the same applies to Kownacki and Capezzi. Barreto, Caprari and Murru also played well. It wasn’t easy to react in this way with Praet, Quagliarella and Strinic all missing. I’m pleased for my players.”

Sampdoria haven’t set themselves any specific aims as such; Giampaolo simply asks that they play to have fun and entertain.

“They were extraordinary in the first half and showed great intensity,” the head coach concluded. “We risked throwing it all away with the penalty and we saw the real Roma in the second half, but we did well to keep our heads during the toughest moment of the match. For this reason, I’m happy.”