Alessandro Diamanti reveals why he turned down Andrea Pirlo’s advice during the EURO 2012 quarter-final penalty shoot-out against England. ‘I truly envied his sense of calm.’
The UEFA EURO 2020 Final kicks off at Wembley Stadium on Sunday at 20.00 UK time.
“As far as I am concerned, Italy have already won, because getting the people back in love with the team, celebrating in the streets and smiling after this horrible time, that almost makes the result of Italy-England irrelevant,” former West Ham United and Fiorentina star Diamanti told La Gazzetta dello Sport.
He is currently living and playing in Australia, so the 38-year-old will be up before 5am to watch the big game.
Diamanti converted one of the penalties in the shoot-out when Italy eliminated England in Euro 2012, after Andrea Pirlo’s legendary Panenka against Joe Hart.
“The Azzurri dominated that game and just couldn’t score, it was incredible. We were scared going into the penalties, but that was my magic moment for the Nazionale.
“The great thing is that just before I walked towards the spot, Pirlo told me to do it with a ‘chip’ like he had a few attempts earlier. He whispered it to me with a sense of calm I truly envied.
“However, I am Alino Diamanti, I am not Andrea Pirlo. If I’d done that and it went wrong, it would’ve been a disaster…”
The current Italy squad under Roberto Mancini is very different, currently on a record-breaking 33-game unbeaten run.
“I’ll be honest, I am not surprised by their performance, because Italy are an army. I saw unfair criticism of Leonardo Bonucci and also Ciro Immobile, because on the Federico Chiesa goal, he drew away three defenders.
“I played for West Ham, so I know the importance of the ‘It’s Coming Home’ idea for the English, even if they never actually do it. Gareth Southgate constructed a good team: pacey, technical, European. They press well, are playing on home turf, so I expect a good game, but I don’t like making predictions.”