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Rome, Wesley: "The incident against Como was serious. I didn't commit a foul; I knew I'd been booked."

Roma are gearing up for the second leg of their Europa League round of 16 tie against Bologna, and during the pre-match press conference, Brazilian full-back Wesley inevitably returned to the much-discussed and controversial refereeing decision that saw him, against his will, sent off for two yellow cards against Como.


Here are his words


  • I want to become important for Roma

    "First and foremost, I’m really happy. I want to keep going down this path and become a key player for Roma. I have to thank everyone, especially the manager for wanting me here. I’ve always tried to do my best since I arrived. I came here to help the team: I don’t see myself as a Cafu, I don’t see myself as a player who can turn things around on his own, but as someone who can make a contribution."

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  • I DIDN'T COMMIT A FOUL; I KNEW I'D BE GIVEN A YELLOW CARD

    "In my view, it definitely wasn’t a foul. I was well aware that I’d already been booked and didn’t want to leave the team down to ten men. I went in close to him; you can clearly see that I was coming in from the side; I put my arm out because he was falling on top of me. It wasn’t a foul. When I was penalised, I kept saying I hadn’t committed a foul, but I was told that the footage showed otherwise."

  • SERIOUS INCIDENT

    "It was a serious, decisive and unacceptable incident, because the score was 1–1. With eleven against eleven, it would have been a different game. I hope mistakes like this don’t happen again, because they have a huge impact on the match"

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  • ITALIAN FOOTBALL IS DIFFERENT

    "Italian football is different from Brazilian football, from the way I used to play at Flamengo. But I always think that, if I’m focused, it becomes harder for the opposition to get past me in defence and easier for me to get past them when I’m attacking. The manager asks me to be very attacking, to make few passing errors and, above all, to make the right decisions. That’s the aspect I’m working on the most: I think I’ve improved, but I still have plenty of room for improvement. I need to improve my consistency and maintain a balance between attack and defence."

  • ALMOST BETTER PLAY ON THE LEFT

    "In my first Roma v Bologna match, I was really happy; I was eager to get to know the Olimpico and make my debut. I played on the right, then the manager realised I could perform well on the left too. Then the manager realised that perhaps I played better on the left, so I started playing there. These days, it doesn’t matter to me where the manager wants me to play – I’m ready to play wherever he needs me."