Grosso: ‘Sassuolo showed courage after a difficult week’ in virus outbreak
Fabio Grosso admits he ‘took a gamble and Sassuolo showed courage’ by fighting to a 1-1 draw away to Juventus, despite a week dominated by a whooping cough outbreak.
The Neroverdi certainly didn’t have the ideal preparation for this trip to the Allianz Juventus Stadium, as along with injured Fali Candé, Alieu Fadera, Daniel Boloca and Edoardo Pieragnolo, they were affected by a whooping cough outbreak.
Only one case has been confirmed so far, but another four players were forced to isolate after showing symptoms of the highly-infectious virus that affects the respiratory system, with Nemanja Matic, Kristian Thorstvedt, Woyo Coulibaly and Stefano Turati left behind.
Grosso proud of Sassuolo courage
“It was a fantastic performance, incredible really, going beyond all the rosiest possible expectations,” smiled Grosso on Sky Sport Italia.
“This has been a very difficult week, but we dug deep for courage and were rewarded for that. The lads played at such a high level, and so often in these situations you need a bit of luck too, but with our system, our attitude and determination, we earned this point.”
Despite the difficulties, and coming off two consecutive Serie A defeats, Sassuolo fought back from the Kenan Yildiz opener to equalise with Andrea Pinamonti.
Manuel Locatelli had the chance to win it for Juventus late on, but Arijanet Muric sealed his Man of the Match status by smothering the penalty.
“We had got so close to the end when the penalty was awarded, there were so many difficulties, but I asked the players to hang in there no matter what happened,” continued Grosso.
“At a certain point, they were perhaps the only ones in the world who at the 93rd minute away to Juventus went to take two consecutive corners and just kept pushing for another goal, without trying to let the clock run out.
“That is the great thing about this Sassuolo side, this courage and naïve confidence that allowed us to get this result.”
Sassuolo had never drawn away to Juventus in Serie A before, losing nine of their trips here and winning only once in 2021.
“I took a big gamble tonight, but I trusted the young players who deserved this opportunity. By asking the lads for courage, I had to show some of my own too, otherwise I wouldn’t have been credible. I picked a lot of attacking players, we took risks, but I liked the attitude and that we created quite a few chances against a strong opponent.”
Grosso famously scored the penalty that gave Italy the 2006 World Cup, so with the play-offs on the horizon and Gianluca Scamacca of Atalanta injured, would he suggest Gennaro Gattuso call up Pinamonti instead?
“Andrea is a great striker, but I am biased. He can still improve and be more decisive, but he is a complete striker who has everything required. We are all cheering on the Nazionale and trust the decisions that Rino will make, so we must try to support and encourage them, not try to always find something to complain about. We need positive energy.”