One of the most humorous incidents of Euro 2020 took place just before the penalty shootout in the semi-final between Italy and Spain, as Giorgio Chiellini playfully joked around with Jordi Alba.
Chiellini has revealed that it was because Alba had mistakenly believed that he had won the coin toss, and that the shootout would take place in front of the Spain fans.
“A lot more has been said than what actually happened in reality,” Chiellini said in an interview with the Italian Football Federation.
“We had to decide the end where the shootout would take place and the referee said ‘red on one side, blue on the other’.
“When he saw the red side [of the coin], Jordi [Alba] thought that it meant his end, but I pointed it out jokingly that it wasn’t the case.”
The Italy captain also described the emotional scenes as Italy went on to triumph on penalties.
“After the first, I was desperate,” Chiellini noted.
“We shared emotions that will remain forever and at the end there were hugs and some tears.”
Ahead of the final against England on Sunday, Chiellini stated that Italy‘s rapid development under Roberto Mancini has taken him by surprise.
“Playing the final is a dream come true,” he added.
“At the start we also believed that Mancini was crazy when he told us that we should be thinking about winning the European Championship.”