Inter defender Francesco Acerbi feels that after the team’s close call against Parma in the Coppa Italia this evening, they must go on and win their next matches.

Speaking to Italian broadcaster SportMediaset after the match, via FCInter1908, the 34-year-old stressed the need for the team to start proving themselves again after they came back to beat Serie B side Parma to reach the Coppa Italia quarterfinals.

As Andre Ranocchia proved to be Inter’s unlikely hero last year at this stage of the Coppa Italia, Acerbi was the Nerazzurri’s match-winner this time around.

Inter were a long way their best for much of the match and went behind in the first half, only forcing extra time through a Lautaro Martinez in the closing stages.

It was in extra time that Acerbi scored his first goal in a Nerazzurri shirt, gambling with a looping header from outside the box whose trajectory was simply too perfect for veteran Parma goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon to keep out.

“I saw where I was on the pitch, I knew there wasn’t much time, and I tried it and it came off,” the 34-year-old said of his goal.

“It was a very complicated match,” he continued, “we risked losing but in the end we brought it home.”

“Now we have to go on and win against Verona and Milan,” the 34-year-old went on, “first thing we have to focus on Verona and then let’s see what happens.”

“We have what it takes to go far in every competition we’re in, and then we’ll have to see how we far because a lot of factors will determine it,” Acerbi concluded.

“We’ll see what happens.”