«It was an immense joy. Calafiori was very good at giving me that ball. I shot without thinking."

This is how Mattia Zaccagni describes the emotion of scoring the 1-1 goal against Croatia , which allowed the Azzurri to grab a last-gasp draw and, with it, the round of 16 of Euro 2024.

A joy that is also that of all his companions. «I'm happy that we're going to the next round. It's an incredible emotion. Getting through was all that mattered . We didn't do badly in terms of performance either. In some areas we did well and we must start again from these. We have an objective in mind and we cannot be satisfied with having passed the round", said Calafiori after the match, unlucky in the own goal against Spain, but who last night provided the decisive assist which earned Italy the pass for the direct elimination phase.

For his part, Luciano Spalletti rejoices but does not hide irritation : «Prudence? But what prudence? We are below the standard level ", said the coach answering questions from journalists and commentators on Sky. «In the first half we lost balls that cannot be lost . What does prudence have to do with it? Today we were mostly shy. Then I feel that you have to play with 3 or 4, but we play both ways. The form has nothing to do with it. Our players have the qualities but at times they make too trivial mistakes ; we have better possibilities than what we showed this evening. We need more courage ."

And now Switzerland , which the Azzurri will face on Saturday at 6pm, in an in or out match where you really can't go wrong anymore.

(Unioneonline/lf)