Udinese 'leave with heads held high'

Although desperately disappointed that Udinese Calcio's three goals failed to prevent a UEFA Cup quarter-final exit, Fabio Quagliarella was proud of their performance in a thrilling 3-3 second-leg draw at home to Werder Bremen. "We leave with our heads held high," he said.

First-half rally
Udinese bowed out after a 6-4 aggregate loss, with Quagliarella proving to be a central figure in both games. Though he scored in the first leg at the Weserstadion, it was the three chances he squandered that received much of the media attention after last week's 3-1 defeat in Germany. The Italy striker looked to have made amends for those misses with two fine first-half strikes which, combined with Gökhan Inler's 15th-minute opener and countered by Diego's equaliser, left the tie delicately poised at half-time with the score 4-4 on aggregate.

'Great shame'
A header from Diego and Claudio Pizarro's close-range effort put paid to the comeback, however, rendering Samir Handanović's penalty save from Diego academic. The fact that Kwadwo Asamoah and Maurizio Domizzi hit the same post in the second half merely added to Quagliarella's post-match regret. "It really was such a great shame, because we were all up for the challenge," said the 26-year-old. "The crowd were exceptional, they really got behind us and we scored three goals in the first half. We levelled the tie, had lots of chances but unfortunately they managed to get those goals and knock us out. It's a real shame."

Confidence
Quagliarella's first goal was a carbon copy of two chances missed in the away leg. The former Torino FC and UC Sampdoria striker did not hesitate to try again where he had failed before, with the striker beating the offside trap before lifting the ball over goalkeeper Tim Wiese into the unguarded net. "That's what being a striker is like, you get these repeat situations," he said. "I knew that if I got a similar chance again I would try the lob again. Just because I missed one last week, doesn't mean that I'll miss again. I tried it again and scored, but unfortunately this time around it proved to be worthless in the end."

Pride
Quagliarella's second goal was his eighth in the competition but it proved insufficient to take his side into what would have been their first major European semi-final. He was proud, though, that Italy's last remaining side in European competition had gone out with a bang. "Bremen are a much more experienced side than us and we shouldn't overlook the fact that we were playing against a great side. Over the course of the two matches, Udinese proved that we weren't inferior to them and we kept going until the bitter end," he said. "We leave this competition with our heads held high."