Stramaccioni happy to have given debuts to Inter youngsters

Posted Friday, November 23, 2012 by Goal.com

The trainer was not too disheartened by the heavy loss in Russia and stated that he was pleased with the opportunity to give his youth players a chance to prove their worth

Inter coach Andrea Stramaccioni does not regret fielding a number of youngsters against Rubin Kazan, despite his team suffering a resounding 3-0 loss and ultimately finishing second in Group H of the Europa League.

Players like Vid Belec, Marco Benassi, Andrea Romano, Marko Livaja and Isaac Donkor all took to field as the Nerazzurri fell victims to an early opener by Gokdeniz Karadeniz and a second-half double salvo by Salomon Rondon.

Nevertheless, Stramaccioni believes the game would prove a valuable learning experience for the squad and will greatly benefit the younger players.

"Right now it does irritate me to have lost this way. We took the initiative for 70 minutes in a difficult arena against a team that was at full-strength. We conceded the goals at the very start and at the very end," the Inter coach told reporters.

"We fielded a very young team and gave a debut to our ninth Primavera youth team player this season, proving our academy is prolific and sending a good sign for all of Italian football.

"I therefore compliment [Andrea] Romano, [Marco] Benassi and [Isaac] Donkor. We are happy to have given so many youngsters their debut in Europe," the 36-year-old added.

Inter now go into their final Europa League group stage game, a home tie with Neftchi, with nothing to play for as second place has been guaranteed for the Nerazzurri while first is out of reach.