Italy-France – G. Pessotto: “Zidane deserves to win the World Cup”

Paolo MALDINI (3 – captain):

“I’ve played in three consecutive World Cup competitions and it’s as though History is repeating itself. I’ve lost on penalty shoot-outs in a quarter final, a semi-final and a final. I felt confident, but we played against a very strong team. FRANCE is one of the favourites: they’re playing at home and they also seem to have luck on their side. Don’t forget that they have scored the most goals so far even though they didn’t convert their chances this evening”.

Angelo DI LIVIO (15):

“I was supposed to have replaced MORIERO (17), but PESSOTTO (7) got cramp. We suffered throughout normal time but in extra-time, we sorted things out and played better. We were not aiming for penalties. It’s a real lottery and at such times the ball seems to get smaller. I consoled DI BAGIO (14) after he missed his penalty. Whichever way you look at it, he had a great World Cup”.

Giuseppe BERGOMI (2):

“I’m very happy to have taken part in this World Cup. At my age, it’s a bonus. The team did its best and I think I gave everything I had”.

Gianluca PESSOTTO (7):

“Today my job was to mark ZIDANE (10) and I think I did well. He doesn’t just play in the final third, he’s all over the pitch. Sometimes I had to leave him. We know how important he is. We saw that again today even though he didn’t score or produce the vital pass. In any case, I hope he wins the World Cup because he deserves it”.