Soleri: No limits to our ambitions

“We’re delighted and there should be no limits to our ambitions,” said the Giallorossi forward after Wednesday’s shoot-out win over PSV Eindhoven. “This team can go toe to toe with anyone and qualification is just reward for us.”

Soleri scored to put Roma into a 2-1 lead in the 68th minute on Wednesday, combining nicely with strike partner Sadiq Umar: “It’s a move that the boss asks us to do and this time my left boot didn’t let me down.”

The PSV defence struggled to deal with the physical presence posed by yourself and Sadiq.

“We tried to do the things we always do. In the second half we showed more determination and managed to turn the result around. Maybe we dropped off a bit after that, thinking we’d already secured the result, and that’s when the second goal came. But we showed our mettle in winning the penalty shoot-out.”

How does it feel to get the victory?

“We’re all delighted. We deserved it and we hope that Holland and penalties bring us good luck, as they did last year. We really deserve it because we work very hard. We practiced penalties during the week so going out in the shoot-out would have hurt a lot.”

What’s the explanation behind your celebration?

“It’s a nod to a celebration by James Harden, a favourite NBA player of mine. I think of it as mixing the pasta pot. Thankfully I’m getting lots of chances to do it recently. It came about from my conversations about the NBA with our physiotherapist Roberto Margutta, who’s a great friend of mine. This win is dedicated to all the physios and people behind the scenes who always give 100% for us.”