Gesture not meant to offend claims Guarin
Inter midfielder Fredy Guarin insists that he did not mean to offend fans with a gesture he made after being substituted against Fiorentina.
With Inter trailing thanks to Giuseppe Rossi's 60th-minute penalty in Thursday's clash, boss Walter Mazzarri opted to replace the Colombian with striker Mauro Icardi.
And the change paid dividends as Inter rallied to win 2-1 via goals from Esteban Cambiasso and Jonathan at San Siro.
Guarin was met with a series of whistles as he exited the pitch, and he responded by showing his displeasure with a gesture to the crowd.
But the 27-year-old insists that he was merely trying to get the fans to back the team.
Speaking to the Inter Channel, he said: "It wasn't a great moment for me when I left the pitch, but it will help me to become stronger on a personal level.
"I care about the Inter fans. Everyone knows what I do every day for the good of the team.
"I didn't want to offend anyone with the gesture. I wanted to fire up the fans to help the team and not whistle every ball we lost.
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"They need to be the 12th man on the pitch for us."
Despite the incident, Guarin was delighted with the three points against a tough Fiorentina side.
"We came up against a strong team that has played well in their recent games," he continued.
"We showed a lot of patience and then had the determination and strength to find the winner after equalising."