Italy are through to the Euro 2020 final after beating Spain 4-2 on penalties with Jorginho scoring the decisive spot-kick
Italy‘s players paid tribute to Leonardo Spinazzola by dedicating their Euro 2020 semi-final victory to their injured team-mate.
Spinazzola’s tournament came to a devastating end when he ruptured his Achilles tendon in the quarter-final against Belgium on Friday, leaving Italy without one of their star players.
But Roberto Mancini’s side still managed to book their place in Sunday’s final, beating Spain on penalties after Tuesday’s game finished 1-1 after 120 minutes.
The defender was watching at home after undergoing surgery at the weekend and joined in with the national anthem from his sofa.
After their shoot-out win, Italy’s entire squad and staff joined together to sing the defender’s name as they celebrated their victory, with Lorenzo Insigne wearing a shirt with ‘Spinazzola’ on the back.
Federico Chiesa was named UEFA’s ‘Star of the Match’ for his sensational goal in the 60th minute, which was later cancelled out by Alvaro Morata. But the forward dedicated the award and Italy’s victory to the Roma left back.
“I dedicate the Man of the Match award to Leonardo Spinazzola, and the win too.
“He would have helped us tonight, but these things can happen in football, we hope we can give him satisfaction in the final,” Chiesa told Sky Italia
An emotional Gianluigi Donnarumma broke down in tears during his match interview as he too paid tribute to Spinazzola.
“There was everything at that moment, it wasn’t easy, but with the strength of this group, we managed to get there.
“It’s impossible to describe what I am feeling, I want to enjoy this win my team-mates and we dedicate the win to Spinazzola, he had sent us a video before the game,” Donnarumma said.