“Everything we have done will be forgotten in a few years. Nobody will remember this national team which gave absolutely everything.”
Listening to Andrea Barzagli’s tearful words after Italy’s penalty shoot-out defeat by Germany on Saturday night felt like a punch in the stomach.
It hurt especially because the veteran centre-back is probably right. Simone Zaza and Graziano Pellè’s spot-kick mishaps will likely obscure what was otherwise a wonderful campaign from the Azzurri. That would be wrong, though, because Italy had a great tournament despite coming up one penalty short of the world champions in Bordeaux….