Lazio striker Ciro Immobile dedicated his goal against Northern Ireland yesterday to Primavera midfielder Daniel Guerini, who sadly passed away earlier this week.
Speaking with Italian state broadcaster Rai (via La Lazio Siamo Noi) after the game, the 31-year-old Italian first spoke about how it felt to score for the Azzurri.
It’s a relief for the moment I’m living, I haven’t scored for a year and a half with the national team and I had two chances before, even if they weren’t easy.
In the first one I slipped, the second one the goalkeeper made a good save. The goal was very important as the game was complicated.
He touched on the competition for a starting spot in the squad.
That’s the way the national team is, it increases the desire to score and play well when you have competition like that.
I’m satisfied with the path we’re on, there’s a lot of talk about forwards struggling to score but we need to have a bit more confidence in ourselves because we’re doing a great job.
Finally, Immobile commented on the death of Guerini and dedicated his goal to the Italian teenager.
My thoughts go out to Daniel Guerini and his family, the goal and the victory are dedicated to them who are suffering and going through things that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
We are disconcerted and very sad, the news has shaken us to the core and we stand by the family.
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