After the quarterfinals at the European championship between Belgium and Italy (1-2) Ciro Immobile was perhaps the most talked about man. The attacker of the Azzurri went down like a dying swan to the ground in Belgium’s box before Nicolò Barella’s opening goal, only to get up a few seconds later unsuspectingly and join the party. The schwalbe came under a lot of criticism for the Immobile, while in the Italian camp it was possible to laugh about it.
The images of the ‘groaning’ Immobile quickly conquered the internet last weekend. Bonnuci was confronted with the moment on Monday, but spoke no shame about it. “He felt he was hit, but the joy of the goal took all the pain away,” Bonucci said during the closing press conference leading up to the semi-final against Spain on Tuesday. “Ciro is a beautiful person and a decent player. Things happen on the ground. We laughed about it within the team and we laughed at him. These kinds of things happen on a football field.”
Bonucci believes in a good result against Spain. Italy can qualify for the final for the second time this century. In 2000, the team of then coach Dino Zoff had to bow to France (2-1) in De Kuip, while in 2012 the Spain of Vicente del Bosque was too strong with no less than 4-0. “I have a bitter aftertaste about the final in Kiev. We were completely wrecked when we arrived. In 2016 we knew we would get them in trouble and it was a very different game (Italy won 2-0 in the round of 16 This time we will have to be alert to recovering the ball and to the qualities of Morata, Dani Olmo and the rest of the attackers.”
Italy has to compete with Spain in any case without Leonardo Spinazzola. The wing defender tore his Achilles tendon against Belgium and has been out of circulation for months. His place in defense will most likely be taken over by Emerson Palmieri. “We want to give everything to make the Italians proud of our team,” continues Bonnuci. “We want to reach the final for Spinazzola. Losing him was a big blow, but he still gives us strength. We want to ease his pain by reaching the final.”
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