Alessandro Del Piero believes Italy deserved to beat Belgium and appears to aim a dig at Patrick Vieira and Gary Neville who thought the Azzurri would fall short against a top team.
The Azzurri qualified for the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 2020 thanks to a 2-1 win over Belgium.
Goals from Lorenzo Insigne and Nicolò Barella helped Roberto Mancini’s side to book their place for the Final Four at Wembley.
Italy are just 90 minutes away from the Final but need to beat Spain in the semis on Tuesday.
“We are more tactically prepared than any other team, there is a great commitment and everyone knows what to do on the pitch,” 2006 Italy World Cup winner Alessandro Del Piero told Sky Sport Italia after the game.
“There is energy and friendship between the players. We can thank Lukaku for a couple of mistakes, but there are many positive aspects in this victory.”
Del Piero appeared to aim a dig at Patrick Vieira and Gary Neville, who had claimed Italy would fall short against the bigger sides of the tournament.
“They might actually want to play their best team because the two games they’ve had so far, haven’t been a test for them,” the former Manchester United defender had claimed after Italy’s win over Switzerland.
Italy had won all three games of their group stage before a 2-1 victory in extra time against Austria in the Round of 16.
EURO 2020 | Neville agrees with Vieira: ‘I feel Italy will fall short’
“I know they’re getting a lot of plaudits at the start of the tournament with their first two performances,” added Vieira after the second game of the group stage against Switzerland, the team that went on the eliminate France.
“They’ve done everything that’s been asked of them, but I do feel once they start to play against the better teams, they won’t have enough.”
However, the Azzurri managed to knock out of the competition one of the genuine contenders for the trophy.
Romelu Lukaku’s goal from the spot before the break was not enough for Roberto Martinez’s side with the former Everton boss who has now lost eight games out of nine against Roberto Mancini.
“Italy deserved to win, they’ve overcome that further step,” claimed Del Piero.
“Many had asked themselves what Italy would have done against the top sides and we won with a great performance.”
Italia-Belgio, Del Piero: "Superato alla grande lo step più impegnativo"#SkyEuro2020 #Euro2020https://t.co/OTYtFjbpbv
— skysport (@SkySport) July 3, 2021