Gargano furious at Sneijder tackle

Napoli Walter Gargano reveals he almost slapped Wesley Sneijder after the Inter Milan midfielder put in a vicious tackle on him in Wednesday's Coppa Italia match.

Napoli advanced to the semi-finals of the competition after a 2-0 victory at the Stadio San Paolo, which came courtesy of a brace from Edinson Cavani.

However, plenty of attention was drawn to the referee's failure to spot Sneijder's studs-first challenge on Gargano's shin on the half-hour mark, a tackle which infuriated the Napoli man.

"It was very wrong of him [Sneijder]," Gargano told Sport 890. "I do not know if I could call it cowardice, but he he could certainly broken my leg with that challenge.

"At the time of the foul I was furious and I do not know how I managed to control myself.

"Instinctively, I would have given him a couple of slaps, but luckily I managed to remain calm. I could not hurt my team by being sent off."

And the Uruguayan fully believes Sneijder's vicious challenge was no accident.

"Sneijder knew what he had done, in fact he never got close to me again during the match.

"He knew he risked being slapped."

It was Gargano who had the last laugh however, as Napoli booked their spot in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, where they will next meet Siena over two legs.