Wales captain Gareth Bale said he was ‘proud of the lads’ after the 1-0 defeat to Italy and admitted he ‘didn’t quite get over the ball’ when he could have equalised in the second half.
Matteo Pessina’s goal after 39 minutes decided the game for Italy, but Bale had a great opportunity to score when he was left completely alone at the far post, only to volley it over the bar.
“I didn’t quite get over the ball enough, so it is what it is,” Bale told ITV after the game.
But Wales are through to the last 16, finishing second behind the Azzurri and the captain praised the group of players at the Dragons.
“We used a lot of energy,” he continued. “There was a lot of running, there were a lot of tired bodies out there. I’m proud of the lads.”
Ethan Ampadu was sent off and gave Wales an even harder task when he arrived late for a challenge on Federico Bernardeschi.
“I didn’t see the red card too much, but obviously I’m going to defend Ethand, it was unfortunate,” Bale said. “We have to use the little break we have now to recover.”