di Santo: 'Know I'm playing for a big club'
Leverkusen - SV Werder Bremen’s Franco di Santo is a man in form. The powerful, rangy and increasingly prolific striker was on the scoresheet yet again for the Green-Whites in their high-octane 3-3 draw at high-flying Bayer 04 Leverkusen on Friday evening.
In one of the games of the season so far, Bremen fought back twice to take a hard-earned point from the BayArena, with di Santo helping himself to his second goal of the new campaign by finishing off a classic Werder counter-attack. After the game, the 25-year-old spoke exclusively to bundesliga.com about his current form, his targets for the season, and his pride at playing for a club of Bremen’s stature.
bundesliga.com: Franco di Santo, congratulations on your goal and performance. The game ended in a 3-3 draw but does it feel like a win after your late equaliser?
Franco di Santo: I don’t know, really. They were on top in the first half, had a lot of chances and they hit the post a few times, but the second half was very even. We might even have won it ourselves and we were a bit unlucky not to. A point here against a team as good as Leverkusen is great for us, though.
bundesliga.com: That’s three draws this season and three points on the board. Do you feel Bremen are making progress this season?
di Santo: Of course, undoubtedly. We’re a new team this season with a new mentality compared to last year. We need to focus in the next few matches and look for a win, though, otherwise these draws will count for less.
bundesliga.com: You’ve now scored four and assisted four in your last nine league games. You look like you’re enjoying yourself…
di Santo: Definitely, yes. I’m happy, I know I’m playing for a big club and we’re all trying our best to get Werder Bremen back where they deserve.
bundesliga.com: Could this be the best run of form of your career so far?
di Santo: I take things day by day and try to keep myself fit, and I always try to improve as a player. I try to learn from every single one of the squad, including the younger guys, and that’s how I want things to stay.
bundesliga.com: What target have you set yourself in terms of goals this season, and where can Bremen finish?
di Santo: I’ll keep working hard and it’s obviously not easy, but I want to score at least ten goals this season. And if the team keep playing like we did this evening, we can definitely end up in the top half of the table.
Bernie Reeves reporting from the BayArena
