Antonio Di Natale reveals his personal objectives and Udinese's, and welcomes criticism: 'It brings me luck'.
The Zebrette are 14th in the standings in spite of the evergreen striker, who celebrated his birthday today and joined Luca Toni at 38.
“We struggle because we are a team trying to save itself, as every other year,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Unfortunately we're short of the points we lost against Palermo and Empoli, that's where the difference lies.
Antonio Di Natale reveals his personal objectives and Udinese's, and welcomes criticism: 'It brings me luck'.
The Zebrette are 14th in the standings in spite of the evergreen striker, who celebrated his birthday today and joined Luca Toni at 38.
“We struggle because we are a team trying to save itself, as every other year,” he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
“Unfortunately we're short of the points we lost against Palermo and Empoli, that's where the difference lies.
“But [Coach Stefano] Colantuono is doing a great job. He's good on the pitch and he reminds me a lot of [former Udinese Coach Luciano] Spalletti.”
The injury of Duvan Zapata led some to speculate that the Friulani could do with an extra striker.
“There are four of us, two of whom are young. This is down to the club, but last year [Cyril] Thereau and I scored 24.
“They've been writing that I'm finished for four years now. And on May 31 I closed the season at 14 goals.
“It brings me luck. But it's right that journalists should make the evaluations that they like.”
With 208 goals to his name in Serie A, Di Natale is just shy of the records of Jose Altafini and Giuseppe Meazza at 216.
“My objective is to score 10 goals. Not because I'm thinking of the record, but because I think I can make it.
“I'll count the numbers at the end. It's true that I've only scored one goal now, but let's discuss this later. Besides, I'm more concerned with saving Udinese and racking up points.
“Why do I shout so much on the pitch? Because I can't stand losing, and I become afraid when we're short of points.
“Bruno [Fernandes] angers me because he's young and he has more skill than anybody else. What he does with his feet is incredible, but sometimes he lays back.
“In the future I'll stay in football, as a player, Coach or director.”