Despite ending his international career on a low note with a resounding defeat at the hands of Argentina, Giorgio Chiellini will go down as one the best defenders in the history of Italian football.

The Juventus legend left at the end of the season, ending a great collaboration that lasted for 17 years. The 37-year-old followed it by bidding the Azzurri farewell last Wednesday in the Finalissima against Argentina.

The Livorno native spoke about his time with the national team, admitting that the failure to reach Qatar 2022 prompted his decision to retire from international football.

Chiellini leaves Italy with great regrets when it comes to World Cups. During his time with the Azzurri, he failed to reach the knockout stages in 2010 and 2014, while missing on the prestigious tournament altogether in 2018 and 2022.

However, the veteran believes that we would have been a part of the winning squad that lifted the World Cup in 2006 had he stayed at Fiorentina for another season.

The defender joined Juventus in 2005, but was too young at the time to usurp the likes of Fabio Cannavaro, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta.

“Joining Juventus was the luckiest event of my life, but it would have been easier to be part of the national team if I had stayed at Fiorentina and played more consistently,” admitted Chiellini in an interview with SportWeek via ilBianconero.

“Maybe if the transfer was postponed I would have made the World Cup squad, but maybe I wasn’t ready yet. But I enjoyed it as a family member and a fan.

“After the semifinal I called my agent, Davide Lippi, and told him that I have to be in Berlin with Buffon, Cannavaro, Del Piero and Zambrotta who have been my teammates at Juve.

“In the videos, you can see me holding Fabio’s daughter, Martina. I cried with joy and I never thought that after 15 years I would feel the emotion of lifting an international trophy myself as a captain.”