The Italian boss thought his side was bearing the silverware they deserved after a tight match against Serie A champions. Gennaro Gattuso rewarded Napoli’s hard work with the title “God of Football” when they beat Juventus to win the Coppa Italia. Napoli came out on top in a penalty shootout on Wednesday after a frustrating 0-0 draw, with Paulo Dybala and Danilo losing in a 4-2 setback from goal.
Despite coming and going with some major opportunities, the Partenopei deserved their success, thanks largely to the creativity of legendary Juve goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
This marks Gattuso’s first big victory as a coach and he told Rai Sport: “Whoever does this job will value this. We ‘re lucky. That’s why I get angry; there has to be passion, respect, and seriousness, and then there’s a god of football who will reward you when you’re working well.”
In the moments that followed Napoli ‘s loss, Gattuso’s mind turned to his sister Francesca, who passed away after a cancer fight earlier this month.
The coach is now excited to see Napoli kick on the closing weeks of the Series A season, sitting sixth, nine points behind the fourth-placed finish at Atalanta.
Maurizio Sarri has now lost two finals since taking over at Juventus and felt his side still struggling to perform at their best following the coronavirus pandemic.
“For the people, for the club, for the fans, there is a disappointment, but we can not express more at the moment. We’ve tried to press less hard, our situation isn’t ideal, but we’ve done the game with excellent application rates. I think we are struggling particularly in terms of individuality at the moment, and that this lack of brilliance is characteristic of this period. I told the players nothing, we were all very angry and disappointed and I think it is better to be silent right now. We are going to think about it,” he told Rai Sport.
