[Jager]

Doni pleased with pre-season Friday 10 August, 2007

Atalanta star Cristiano Doni is pleased with the team’s pre-season performances despite defeat in the Teresa Herrera Tournament.

The Bergamaschi were defeated 2-1 by Portuguese team Belenenses on Thursday, having already been beaten on penalties by La Liga side Deportivo La Coruna earlier in the week

However, the midfielder is far from disappointed by his teammates’ performance and behaviour on the pitch, despite the final results.

“We proved that we are a great team,” Doni told the gathered Press after returning to Italy with the rest of the team on Friday.

“We were not favoured by the final results, but expressed ourselves by playing good football,” added the former Sampdoria and Real Mallorca man.

“Deportivo only defeated us on penalties playing in their own stadium. The match with Belenenses was decided by Moris Carrozzieri’s sending off, we had dominated the match until then.

“We showed our true worth and also confirmed that we have extraordinary supporters. We already knew that, but these lads just keep on surprising us,” concluded Doni.

Coach Gigi Del Neri was also pleased with his players’ performances and believes that the Spanish experience was very important.

“We did not win, but did well anyway. The players kept on fighting until the end, showing determination and personality,” explained the former Chievo boss.

“The tournament was very useful, it helped us adapt to our new tactics,” he explained.

“I am only sorry that in last night’s match I was not able to try some more tactics after we went down to 10 men, but it isn’t a problem,” he finished.

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