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Inter coach Mancini slams 'diver' Nedved
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-14 06:49
ROME: Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini accused Pavel Nedved of diving to win
the free-kick from which Alessandro Del Piero scored the winner for Juventus in
Sunday's 2-1 victory at the San Siro.
Substitute Del Piero's deadly strike clinched Juve's 21st victory in 25 Serie
A matches and stretched their lead over Inter and AC Milan to 12 points with 13
games remaining.
The game ended with Mancini chasing referee Gianluca Paparesta down the
tunnel and demanding an explanation as to why he didn't sanction Czech
international Nedved for what he thought were a series of dives.
"After we equalised the game was even, but Paparesta should have resolved one
issue in particular," fumed Mancini after the tense Scudetto showdown.
"Paparesta was excellent, apart from the episode with Nedved. Nedved is a
diver. He throws himself to the ground all the time and the referees fall for
it."
Inter have now suffered back-to-back league defeats after going on a 21-match
unbeaten run in all competitions and Mancini put their recent slump down to poor
finishing.
"Recently we have been creating opportunities, but we haven't been putting
our chances away," he said. "We aren't as sharp or clinical as we ought to be."
Juventus coach Fabio Capello said his team's performance was flawless.
"We were perfect," beamed the 59-year-old who guided Juve to the title last
season. "There were three possible results but we played to win.
"It was a wonderful match and we thoroughly deserved the victory. There was
no doubt the better team won."
Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic tapped home Mauro
Camoranesi's cross to put Juve ahead in the 63rd minute, before a towering
header from Inter's Argentine defender Walter Samuel levelled the score.
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