interpersempre.com

"INTER HAVE MADE ME STRONGER... NOW THE CUP."

"Samp?  It was Garrone that wanted to sell."

"Seeing Palombo in tears was a stab and thinking of Samp getting relegated makes my heart bleed."

FOUR MONTHS OF MADNESS

"I'm not a scapegoat for Samp in B: my renewal was never going to come, then Garrone made a mandate to sell."

"Inter have made me stronger now give me the first Cup."

Appiano Gentile - From Inter-Palermo in January 30 and Inter-Palermo in May 29: Giampaolo Pazzini have been at Inter for exactly four months.

What were those four months like Pazzini?
"Four months of madness and arriving in mid-season was not easy.  I demonstrated my quality immediately and it was a great satisfaction."

And there is a price in the contract when you score 10 goals with Inter?

"Ah, but you know everything..."

Have you ever thought that by signing this contract it would be a risky choice for you?

"I like this taste of the game and I like this challenge so I do not mind."

But is it true for your friend Cassano, going to Milan weighs a little bit more?

"Antonio has led Milan to many important points and he is still a great player and very vaccinated.  He didn't need me to tell him that it would be hard."

And where will your other friend Montolivo be playing?

"I don't know.  But if he has taken a certain decision (not to renew with Fiorentina) that means he has already decided where he wants to keep growing and what he needs to do."

Let's go back to you: 6 goals in a difficult situation at Samp, 11 with Inter as last minute arrival.  Is that an answer to those who have criticized you that Pazzini is not a striker of a big club?

"Evidently the 19 goals from last year were not an accident.  There are foreigners here which talk a lot even if they talk worse than me.  Changing some options for me was important."

Between you and Nagatomo, it was a misunderstanding...

"At first I was very angry.  I told him: 'You have to cross it or what am I going to do in the middle here?'"

Looking back: were you afraid to get into an Inter with so many foreigners?

"They are champions that I saw them very rarely so I was more curious than anything about the dressing room.  I tried to imagine what it could be."

And what about now?

"They are good guys, not just champions: they have simplified my task greatly."

Were you afraid of competing with someone like Milito?

"Less competition means that the team is not a great team.  I was happy to compete with someone like him."

Afraid about not making the Champions League for next year, a competition that you never played in?
"Inter-Lazio, after the first goal of Zarate and the equalizer of Sneijder: a little bit, yes.  But the thing that impressed me about this team, not only in that game, which is the consciousness of our strengths."

Have you gotten better playing for a team like this?

"There is no doubt that today I feel much secured and more convinced of my ability, compared to five months ago."

Even when the 40 days without scoring a goal?

"I never thought that: "Hell, I can't score anymore."  But I always said that: 'Calm, if you don't score today, you'll do it next time.'"

And what if you score in the next game against Palermo?  A dance like Boateng?  A tatto to remember?

"You can dance if you are good which is not the case for me.  I don't have one tattoo and I will not start.  I can do something else, right?  But I have not yet though about it."

Try to think about this: what have you won so far in your career?

"Zero titles, and my teammates kind of tease me a little bit.  I only played in one final and lost on penalties (Italian Cup, Lazio 7-6 Samp in May 2009).  Now I have another chance."

You won against Palermo in a play-off for the Champions League last season (your goal).  Got a brace and a penalty for Inter this year.  They must be good luck for you, right?

"I don't want to say it...  But let's say, especially in the last two years, Palermo to me means happy thoughts."

A little less for Sampdoria and what happened to him in the past two months.

"Seeing Angelo Palombo crying it was a stab to me and when I think that Samp have dropped to B, my heart is still bleeding.  Especially for my former teammates and the fans which are absolutely fantastic and do not deserve Serie B."

But not for president Garrone true?

"Look, from August to January, I only saw Garrone once and that was it."

But in return, you heard him several times like: "Too many talks about Pazzini and the way he's playing, it would be better to send someone else on the field,"  it is justified for the sale.

"I, for Samp, gave everything I had.  And if I didn't speak up until now was because out of respect for the situation that he was experiencing."

But is it true that - said Garrone: "Pazzini strongly wanted to leave in January and did everything to go"?

"You know what is true?  The truth was that I had a lot of time to renew my contract, but one day it was sunny, then a rainy day, then a windy day and therefore the contract was never coming for me.  Then, in January, they gave the mandate to one of my agents to sell in June.  Three days after, Inter, a World Champion, arrived and they wanted me now, not in June."

So it was impossible to say no?

"Out of all the people that making decision at Samp, do you know how many said no to my sale: two.  Someone wanted to turn me into a scapegoat for everything that has happened which I am not.  But now I will not talk about it and I will only think about winning the Italian Cup with Inter if possible."

Source: Gazzetta dello Sport