Leonardo Bonucci fully admits he was ‘relishing’ the hostile atmosphere at Wembley Stadium, as Italy beat England on penalties to win UEFA EURO 2020.
The Juventus defender scored the equalising goal after Luke Shaw had put England in front within two minutes at Wembley.
He also then kept his cool from the spot to convert during the penalty shoot-out, as the Azzurri win the Euros for the first time since 1968.
“It’s a dream come true and the credit goes to the coach, the whole squad,” Bonucci told RAI Sport.
“When we got together in Sardinia, there was something different compared to the past. We slowly gained confidence, certainty, unity. This was the icing on the cake that makes us legends.”
There was a hostile atmosphere with only circa 7,000 Italy fans present, most of them already based in Britain due to the travel restrictions, but that only fired Bonucci up.
“It’s a unique feeling and we are relishing it. Seeing 58,000 people leave before the trophy was handed out is something to relish, now the Cup is coming to Rome. They thought it was staying in London, sorry for them, but Italy once again taught a lesson.
“We said during the warm-up, what was happening in the stands was purely just background noise. We had 34 games unbeaten, all we needed to do was exactly what we’d done so far to get here, not one bit more, not one bit less.”
Bonucci certainly seemed to reference the insults in his post-match celebrations, as he was caught on camera shouting: “More pasta! We need to eat more pasta!”
If Italy won, they were always going to say it… https://t.co/dxIEr6G0no #ITAENG #Euro2020Final #bbceuro2020 pic.twitter.com/sbYG6BEDPy
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) July 11, 2021