Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani admitted that scoring his first goals for Italy tonight was "a dream come true".

Not only did Alberto Aquilani score his first goal for Italy tonight, he scored a decisive brace that allowed the Azzurri to claim a crucial 2-1 home win against Montenegro that sends them top of World Cup Qualifying Group 8.

After the match, he admitted he had made a dream come true, and also used the opportunity to hit back at his critics.

"This is the ultimate dream for any young player," he said. "I had never scored before for Italy, so this is incredible, also because I was wearing the number 10 shirt. I could not have asked for anything more.

He then came back to Earth and thought about the team's interest: "Above all I am happy we managed to win. We had already played well in Bulgaria, so these points give that result new meaning.

"The coach put a lot of responsibility on me tonight, as he asked me to lead the team's attacks, and I'm glad I was able to repay his trust.

"There are no easy games anymore, Montenegro showed they are a good young side tonight, but we also showed we are able to suffer and grind out important results."

On the recent criticism aimed at him by the media for Roma's poor performances, Aquilani said: "We need more balance in football, it's ridiculous that you get insulted after you give a couple of less than great performances. I wasn't a disaster before, and I am not a phenomenon after tonight.

"Honestly, I have to chuckle when I think what they might have said if I hadn't scored these two goals tonight."

He concluded by talking about this weekend's big match against Serie A leaders Inter: "We have an important match ahead on Sunday, we'll certainly play to win. I'm sure [Roma coach] Luciano Spalletti will be happy after seeing that all of the goals were scored by his players tonight."

Indeed, Montenegro scored through Roma striker Mirko Vucinic, whose goal was sandwiched by Aquilani's two strikes, both of them coming in the first half an hour.