Torino striker Fabio Quagliarella insists he was “not apologising” to Napoli fans for his goal. “I wanted an end to hostility.”
The forward converted a penalty to temporarily equalise at the Stadio San Paolo in last night’s 2-1 defeat and refused to celebrate, instead holding his hands together above his head in a gesture many saw as an apology.
Torino striker Fabio Quagliarella insists he was “not apologising” to Napoli fans for his goal. “I wanted an end to hostility.”
The forward converted a penalty to temporarily equalise at the Stadio San Paolo in last night’s 2-1 defeat and refused to celebrate, instead holding his hands together above his head in a gesture many saw as an apology.
“Naples is my city. Through not just my own fault, my rapport with the Azzurri fans has deteriorated and I feel this hostility every time I come back home,” wrote Quagliarella on his Facebook page.
“It is down to misunderstandings that one day will come into the open, but that’s not the issue today. Faced by a crowd who once again insulted me and my family, after a goal I had been waiting for some time, I made a gesture that evidently was not clear enough.
“I did not apologise to the Napoli fans for converting the penalty: absolutely not, that would be silly! At that moment I just wanted to say: enough, no more hostility, let’s end this once and for all. I am a professional and I do my duty, but I have nothing against you.
“If I gave a different impression, then I apologise. I apologise to the Toro fans because I am proud to wear their jersey and will be eternally grateful to Torino because at the age of 14 this club helped me to grow as a man and player.
“Everyone knows that over the last few years I haven’t celebrated goals against my former clubs. I am not the only one, just look at Alberto Gilardino and Josip Ilicic yesterday.
“Quite rightly Toro fans remember in October 2008 that I celebrated with the Udinese shirt after my brace against Toro. I was wrong and precisely at that moment I realised that celebrating a goal scored against a club and fans who gave you so much hurts double.
“I don’t know which way of doing things is right or wrong, but I haven’t celebrated goals against my former clubs for many years now.”