Juventus captain, Giorgio Chiellini has reacted to Italy’s 2-1 defeat at the hands of Spain yesterday, which ended their 37-game unbeaten world record.
The game was nicely set up for the Spaniards to win when Leonardo Bonucci was given two yellow cards in quick succession.
The Italian’s incredible unbeaten run had helped them to win Euro 2020 and they were hoping to also win the Nations League.
However, a youthful Spain side without the likes of Gerard Moreno and Alvaro Morata scored twice through Ferran Torres to race to a two-goal lead early on.
Chiellini says it is sad that they had to lose their unbeaten run at home in Milan, but insists they have to be proud of the run of results.
Losing, he says, is a necessary part of development for the Azzurri who he believes still has much room for improvement before praising the team for nearly levelling the scores eventually despite being a man and two goals down.
“It’s a pity the defeat came in Milan, but there is proud for this extraordinary run of results,” Chiellini told RAI Sport as quoted by Football Italia.
“it’s a necessary stage in the growth process for a team that can still do far better. We knew it was a difficult match, we called for patience and clear minds, sometimes you have to accept the opposition is a very strong team that causes you problems.
“It’s a pity, we wanted to continue this unbeaten run, but the fact is this will help our growth process. We almost got it back on level terms when down to 10 men and 2-0 down, so that shows what we’re capable of.”
