Coach Daniele De Rossi said he knows
he has lots of work to do after AS Roma beat Hellas Verona 2-1
on Saturday in his first match in charge after being called in
following last week's sacking of Jose Mourinho.
Early goals by Romelu Lukaku and Lorenzo Pellegrini earned Roma
a win that provisionally takes them up to eighth in the Serie A
standings with 32 points from 21 games.
Although former Italy midfielder and club legend De Rossi was
given a warm reception, Roma fans booed many of his players and
sang chants and showed banners expressing support for Mourinho.
When asked how he could turn the boos into cheers, De Rossi
replied: "by playing better than we did in the second half.
"If we'd done that, we'd have all gone away happier," he said.
"But part of our job is emphasising the fact that we won the
game, that we got the three points. We should celebrate our
victories, be happy and get the buzz back.
"The good thing is that, even through we had to dig in and
didn't play well in the last 25, 30 minutes, we still battled
away and didn't spare any energy.
"The fans want a team that always gives their all. I think we
showed how much we wanted to win this game".
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