Inter defender Hakan Calhanoglu feels that the mood around the team has been given a big lift by their win over Juventus in Serie A on Sunday evening.
Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset, the 28-year-old spoke about the importance of the win for the team’s Scudetto ambitions, and also stated that he had never doubted himself to score his penalty against the Bianconeri.
Calhanoglu scored Inter’s only goal in a 1-0 win to take three massive points back to Milan and get the team back on track in their pursuit of a second successive Serie A title.
The Turk had had his first effort saved, but backed himself to do better when the spot kick was ordered to be retaken, and on the second go his penalty was struck with far more conviction.
This was not the first important penalty which Calhanoglu has scored for Inter since joining from AC Milan last summer, and helped to further establish him as a key figure in the hunt for the Serie A title.
“It was certainly a pressure penalty in the moment,” he said. “We wanted to win against Juve. I missed the first one, but I was confident and then I scored. The important thing is that in the end we won.”
“I have confidence in my shooting, and I was confident I’d score,” he added.
He stated that the pressure intensified “Because I made a mistake on the first one. I knew how much beating Juve meant for us, but above all I know how much it would mean for the fans.”
“I felt the that Inter hadn’t won there in ten years,” he added. “I apologized for the first one, but I was happy for the second.”
Of the win, he said that “It will certainly give us something more, beating Juve at their home stadium is never easy. Now we have to keep going. Maybe it wasn’t our best performance, but now only the three points matter.”
Of the recent slump in form, Calhanoglu said that “That’s the past, now let’s look ahead. Against Verona, we want to win, with the help of our fans who are always behind us.”
“With the strength they give us we will surely win,” he went on. “Now everyone is positive and wants to win the Scudetto.”
The midfielder stated that “I always want to give my best for the team. I knew that here at Inter it would be hard to take Eriksen’s place, since they won the Scudetto with him.”
“But us new signings, such as Dumfries and I, have quality and we want to win the Scudetto with Inter,” he added. “The numbers and statistics come in, but I don’t pay attention to them. I’m happy.”
Of the Serie A title pursuit, he said that “We absolutely believe in it. But I don’t like to talk too much – we can only say that we believe in it to the very end.”
Calhanoglu closed by stating that “I want to stay here, for sure. My dream is to win things with Inter, you already know that. And then clearly not to have injuries, the body is the most important thing.”
