Sampdoria captain Daniele Gastaldello praised his teammates for their strength of character following the 1-1 draw away to Palermo in the Blucerchiati’s opening fixture of the 2014-15 Serie A season.
The defender’s late equaliser gave Samp a point after they played just over half of the game with 10 men.
“To concede right at the start, to have 10 men for so long and then to be able to recover right at the end shows that the team has spirit,” said Gastaldello to Sky Sport after the game.
“Today we never gave up and we were rewarded with the result.”
“We cannot allow ourselves to play any game at less than 100 per cent, we have an excellent squad but to win we must always play with intensity.”
The Samp talisman also revealed what approach coach Sinisa Mihajlovic took to his half-time team-talk:
“At the break the coach only gave us some tactical instructions and nothing else.”
“He told us to continue to believe because he was convinced that in the end we would score and we did.”
