Italy captain Giorgio Chiellini ceremoniously carried out the trophy ahead of the Spain-England EURO 2024 Final, then gave it one last kiss.
It was his duty as the captain of the holders to hand back the silverware so that it could tonight be presented to the new Champions of Europe.
He was the man who lifted the same trophy to the heavens at Wembley Stadium in July 2021, as the EURO 2020 tournament was postponed by a year due to the global pandemic.
It means Italy only got to enjoy being reigning champions for three years rather than the traditional four.
As he placed the trophy on the plinth at the Olympiastadion in Berlin, Chiellini gave the European Championship trophy one final kiss goodbye.
Speaking on Sky Sport Italia before kick-off, the now retired defender had confessed Italy didn’t do enough this time around to retain it.
“There is a little sadness giving the trophy back, as I dreamed of handing it back to Italy. Unfortunately, these teams deserve it more than we would.”
Chiellini hands back Euro trophy
It’s Peter Drury waxing lyrical about Giorgio Chiellini and Italy’s EURO 2020 triumph at Wembley 🎙️
It’s perfect.
Time to crown the EURO 2024 champion 📲 https://t.co/OefQTvQp32#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/Xnbk2pp6G7
— Optus Sport (@OptusSport) July 14, 2024
boy was he off he is a great champilon regardless
It left Rome, but it’s not coming home
Most pathetic defence of a title . Thanks italy
💚💚💚🤍🤍🤍💔💔💔