Prandelli says Fiorentina deserved the final

By Paul Virgo Reuters - Friday, May 2 12:38 am

FLORENCE, Italy (Reuters) - Fiorentina coach Cesare Prandelli said the wrong side will face Zenit St Petersburg in the UEFA Cup final after watching his side lose 4-2 to Rangers in a penalty shoot-out on Thursday.

Deadlocked over two legs and extra time at 0-0, despite Fiorentina having most of the possession throughout the semi-final games, Rangers reached the final in Manchester on May 14 after Spaniard Nacho Novo converted the decisive spot-kick.

"It's a big disappointment because if there was a team that deserved to go the final it was Fiorentina," Prandelli told a news conference.

The Scottish side showed little adventure in both of the goalless ties but prevailed with some dogged defending and cool shooting from the penalty spot.

"We lacked a bit of luck with some of the rebounds in the area," Prandelli added. "We managed to reach the byline many times and get in lots of crosses.

"Perhaps we were a bit too frenetic with the final pass, but it was a semi-final so that's quite normal.

"The only thing lacking was the finishing, but we tried. We deserved to go to the final, but we accept this verdict with serenity".

Rangers manager Walter Smith paid tribute to the hosts for their attacking approach.

"They had a fair amount of pressure, but our team defends very well. We are a difficult team to score against," he said. "I don't think Fiorentina could have done much more than they did."

Smith, 60, said the victory was the culmination of year-long effort: "In a short space of time we've built up the spirit and determination which we have shown throughout the season. It is fantastic what we have done.

EUROPEAN DELIGHT

"On a personal level, at this stage of my career I thought (the time of) European Cup finals had passed, so I'm delighted." Smith praised Steven Whittaker, Brahim Hemdani, Sasa Papac and Novo for the courage they showed in converting their penalties.

But he admitted that he "thought the worst" when captain Barry Ferguson missed the opening spot-kick.

He added that he was relishing the prospect of facing the Zenit side of former Rangers boss Dick Advocaat in the final.

"That was a fantastic result Dick got," he said of Zenit's 4-0 thrashing of Bayern Munich to give them a 5-1 aggregate win. "I look forward to meeting Dick."

(Editing by Trevor Huggins)

• Email Story
• IM Story
• Printable View
• Blog This

Recommend this article

Sponsored Links

(What’s this?)