Inter Milan midfielder Esteban Cambiasso hailed his side’s fighting spirit after they fought back from two goals down on aggregate to beat Bayern Munich 3-2 and qualify for the Champions League quarter-finals.
The reigning European champions were 2-1 down at the Allianz Arena and staring a last-16 exit in the face, but goals from Wesley Sneijder and Goran Pandev handed the Nearazzurri a dramatic victory, in a match that Bayern failed to put to bed.
The result ensured Inter became the first team in 15 years to progress having lost a knockout stage first-leg at home, and Cambiasso felt that his team-mates “heart” was responsible for the victory.
“We feel great satisfaction, as we approached this game with the belief we could do it,” Cambiasso said. “At the start everything seemed to be going well with Samuel Eto’o getting the opener, then there was weakness in defence, but we got this tie back on track with heart.”
The “weakness” included a howler from goalkeeper Julio Cesar, who fumbled to allow Mario Gomez to level the scores at 1-1, but Cambiasso insisted the mistake gave Leonardo’s side more desire to fight back, in order to spare their team-mate’s blushes.
“Julio Cesar was disappointed at half-time, as he thought that he had ruined the whole game, but that just fired us up to go out there and win,” Cambiasso said. “We believed right to the end and we did it.
“I’m happy for Pandev, as it’s a great personal satisfaction for him and everyone in the team. Now we go forward in the Champions League, we have a good squad and are waiting for Diego Milito to recover. With this heart, Inter can achieve amazing things.”
Credit: http://soccernet.espn.go.com
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