Italy will face Spain, the strongest opponent in the group, in the second round of the group stage of the European Championship. Before the game, the Italian newspaper Repubblica interviewed the team manager and legend Buffon, asking him to tell his stories about the European Championship.
Buffon still feels deeply sorry for Italy’s crushing defeat to Spain in the 2012 European Championship final, even seeing it as the biggest regret of his brilliant career. Buffon said: “The only game I want to replay is the 2012 European Championship final. That game made me very sad. The 0-4 score made our whole team look like helpless paratroopers or a group of people waiting for a miracle. I don’t like making excuses, but I have to say we weren’t at that level.”
Buffon believes that if the Italian team, which had one less day to rest, had been able to get enough rest, the situation would have been completely different. Buffon said: “The final was so important, but we were both mentally and physically tired and couldn’t compete. If we had been able to rest one more day, things would have been completely different. From the point of view of dignity and pride, we shouldn’t have performed so poorly, but that’s how it is.”
Buffon even revealed his own scars, using the missing Champions League trophy in his career as an example to prove why the European Championship loss hurt him the most. Buffon said: “Because the opponents I lost in the Champions League finals were clearly stronger than us. Juventus was defeated in Cardiff, and then we had no chance against Barcelona.”
Repubblica concluded: Italy is facing Spain again, the boy named Yamal was only 5 years old at the time. Buffon is injecting energy into the Italian players in his own way. He is helping the team with his experience from the 2006 World Cup, because he doesn’t want his younger generation to face the same predicament as 2012.
This article is from a user submission and does not represent the views of Soccer News Pick. If you repost it, please indicate the source: https://www.soccernewspick.com/uefa-european-championship/674.html
