Giorgio Chiellini He was one of the great protagonists of this Italy capable of conquering the final of the European Championship. The captain of the Azzurra spoke of his illusion ahead of Sunday’s appointment in an interview with UEFA and FIGC channels, and he explained again what happened to Jordi Alba during the penalty shoot-out.
Final: “It is a dream come true. At first we also thought that Mancini was crazy when he told us that we should think about winning the Eurocup. Now the last centimeter is missing.”
England: “I was hoping to meet France, they were the great favorites, and then the English. They have quality, physique, solidity and organization. It is a concrete and strong team, let’s not forget that in the last World Cup they came out in the semifinal and only for details.”
Rivals: “Belgium made us suffer in the final stretch, but we were in control of the game. Spain was the rival that put us in trouble the most. Besides possession, they have improved a lot in their pressure, they maintained intensity during the 90 minutes. We need our hearts. and the humility to understand that we had a better opponent in front of us in what we liked to do: dominate the game. There are rivals we have to respect and we change our strategy. I did not expect to suffer so much, but beyond some danger before 90 ‘, I think that we create more chances. It is the first time in these three years that we come across a rival capable of making us suffer like this, it will serve us for the future. “
Couple with Bonucci: “We are happy with the praise. There are rivals with whom we come across dozens of times, such as Busquets or Jordi Alba, and there are great respects between colleagues. In our case, it must be emphasized that the entire squad is doing it in an extraordinary way.”
Kane: “He will be a very tough opponent, I have always liked him. He is a very complete player and he continues to grow, but England is not only him. Yesterday on the bench they had Grealish, Sancho, Rashford, Calvert-Lewin, Foden … They have a squad of enormous level, but it will be an even game, with respect and without fear “.
Penalties: “I was hugged with Locatelli all the time, because after the first one I was desperate. We shared emotions that will remain forever, and in the end there was a hug with some tears.”
Jordi Alba: “Much more was said than what actually happened. We had to decide under which bottom to shoot and the referee said ‘red on one side, blue on the other’. When red came out, Jordi thought it was his bottom, but I told him I jokingly pointed out that this was not the case. “