TURIN – Samir Handanovic has praised Inter’s fightback in Turin after Roberto Mancini’s half-time team talk helped turn things around, but urged his team-mates to show that same determination for the entirety of the match.

Speaking after the 1-1 draw at Juventus Stadium, the big Slovene began: “The first half wasn’t good but in the second we came back into it and might even have won. We have to improve and if we keep on working like this we will improve. There’s still a long way to go this season.

“Mancini’s half-time team talk? He just explained to us very calmly what wasn’t working, then we went back out there with a different approach. But we need to have that appoach from the start of the first half.

“Can Inter still finish third? First we must focus on improving, then we’ll see.”

The goalkeeper was then asked about talks to renew his contract (“You’d have to ask my agent. I just focus on my football”) and the heated exchange of words between Icardi and Osvaldo: “Sometimes you get a bit of tension on the field.”

Finally, the keeper discussed his positioning and movement on the free kick of Pirlo’s that he saved: “Unless you’ve played in goal it’s hard to understand. Pirlo’s shots swerve differently in the air. It looked like it was going left but then it went right and I had to change direction.”

 

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