Gianluigi Donnarumma admits he felt ‘joy’ after Austria’s goal was disallowed, but conceding ultimately can ‘help’ Italy going forward in Euro 2020.
Federico Chiesa and Matteo Pessina came off the bench to score the goals in extra time for a 2-1 victory in the Round of 16.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. We did well to keep everything tight, keep pushing and score the goal to break the deadlock and it was easier from there,” Donnarumma told RAI Sport.
“It’s true we conceded at the end, but ultimately that might help us going forward.”
The Azzurri did break the all-time record for clean sheets before the late Sasa Kalajdzic header.
Marko Arnautovic had put the ball in the net during regular time with a header, but after a long wait, VAR ruled it offside.
“I was worried, then I saw VAR was checking it and I felt absolute joy when they said it was disallowed.”
Wembley was packed out with Italians who are based in England, dominating the 22,000 crowd.
“The emotions are extraordinary, we can’t wait until we can play in a packed stadium in front of these fans.”
Italy will play either Belgium or Portugal in the Euro 2020 quarter-final.
“It doesn’t matter who we face, we have to keep playing our football and keep going.”