MILAN – It’s been a special week for Mauro Icardi and he could hardly have hoped for a better way to celebrate becoming a dad to Francesca than scoring in an Inter win.

After netting the Nerazzurri’s second to wrap up a 2-0 victory over Sampdoria in the Coppa Italia last 16, the striker revealed his delight at grabbing a late goal that enabled him to make up for his first-half penalty miss.

He began: “I changed my mind at the last second, Romero knows me well and he managed to keep it out. Luckily I scored in the second half.”

Icardi then commented on Inter’s difficulty in breaking down a stubborn Samp side: “After the first sending-off Sampdoria got every man behind the ball and it proved to be harder than we expected. We didn’t play at our best at the start, but then we made the breakthrough and got the win.

“Shaqiri and Podolski? Two top-quality players. Hopefully we can go a long way with their help.”

Can Inter win this competition? “We have to take each game as it comes. We’ll see at the end of the season.”

 

 

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