One of the most humorous incidents ofEuro 2020took place just before the penalty shootout in the semi-final betweenItalyandSpain, asGiorgio Chielliniplayfully joked around withJordi Alba.
Chiellinihas revealed that it was becauseAlbahad mistakenly believed that he had won the coin toss, and that the shootout would take place in front of theSpainfans.
“A lot more has been said than what actually happened in reality,”Chiellinisaid 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.”
TheItalycaptain also described the emotional scenes as Italy went on to triumph on penalties.
“After the first, I was desperate,”Chiellininoted.
“We shared emotions that will remain forever and at the end there were hugs and some tears.”
Ahead of the final againstEnglandon Sunday,Chiellinistated thatItaly‘s rapid development underRoberto Mancinihas taken him by surprise.
“Playing the final is a dream come true,” he added.
“At the start we also believed thatManciniwas crazy when he told us that we should be thinking about winning the European Championship.”