ITALY head coach Roberto Mancini admitted that his team suffered before beating Spain on penalties to reach the final of Euro 2020 on Tuesday night.
Spain were the more dominant side throughout the clash but it was Italy who scored first through Federico Chiesa before Alvaro Morata equalised to take the game to extra-time and eventually penalties.
Italy prevailed in thee shootout to reach their fourth European Championship final, leaving Mancini and his compatriots ecstatic.
“We are pleased to have given joy like this to the Italian people,” Mancini said in his post-match interview.
“We knew it would be very hard, Spain caused us plenty of trouble. We tried to score when we had the chances but we had a hard time because we didn’t have much of the ball.”
Italy extended their unbeaten run under Mancini to 33 games, but even with a 27-game stretch without defeat before the tournament, few people expected the Azzurri to reach the final.
Mancini is happy he and his players have proven so many pundits and fans wrong.
“We wanted the final even if not many people believed us before the tournament,” the former Manchester City manager added.
“I congratulate Spain, they are a great team and penalties are a lottery. There are some games when you have to struggle but we deserved to be here. We knew it was going to be tough, it wasn’t easy and Spain surprised us at the beginning by deciding to play without a striker.
“This squad, however, is amazing. Everyone wants to win, but this group of players wanted to do something special and they just did that.”
Spain head coach Luis Enrique says he is proud of his side’s performancee despite the defeat.
“I think we deserved an ‘excellent’ if I wanted to give my players marks,” the former Barcelona and AS Roma manager said.
“I think they’ve been marvellous. I can’t criticise them, I have to praise them. It’s time for them to rest now.”
Morata scored a superb goal to equalise for Spain but missed his kick during the shootout, which led to him being criticised in some quarters.
However, Enrique stands firmly behind his player, praising the Juventus striker for his commitment to the Spanish cause.
“Morata had an adductor problem but still wanted to take the penalty and that says so much for his personality,” Enrique explained.
“He’s been gigantic for us in this tournament.
“In professional sport we all have to learn how to win and how to take defeat. That’s why I want to congratulate Italy.
“We’re going back to Spain safe in the knowledge that we were clearly among the best teams at this tournament.”
Spain captain Sergio Busquets believes his side deserved to beat Italy, insisting the Spaniards were ‘superior’.
“Everyone made Italy big favourites but we demonstrated that we were superior to them,” the Barcelona midfielder said.
“We played with a lot of young footballers and this whole experience will have served to give them a lot of confidence. This team will be back.
“We imposed the things we wanted to here, owning the ball, winning it back as quickly as possible. In general across this match I think we were the dominant side. But football’s like this, and all we can do is congratulate Italy.”
Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, explained how he played his part in the victory by stopping two penalties.
“I was calm before the penalties because I knew I could help the team,” the Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper said.
“I’d like to thank everyone, as now we are only one step away from realising our dream. Spain are very strong, but this Italy side has a lot of courage, we never give up.”
Italy will battle England or Denmark in Sunday’s final at Wembley.
Comments are closed.