Federico Chiesa has rued the several chances Italy missed in their Nations League semi-final match against Spain yesterday.
The Azzurri paid the ultimate price for not being clinical enough as Spain ran out winners and qualified for the finals.
The 2-1 defeat also ends Italy’s incredible run of form that stood at 37 games without a defeat, a world record.
They had their work cut out when Leonardo Bonucci was sent off for two bookable offences early in the game, but Juventus winger, Chiesa believes they also lost because of the chances they missed.
He concedes they were going to be defeated someday as they continued their fine run, which had lasted since 2018.
After congratulating Spain, the attacker believes his team has what it takes to bounce back and believes they will get back to form in their next matches.
“We lost after many games, we set a world record, so in the end it had to happen. As everyone said over the last few days, it had to happen eventually,” Chiesa told RAI Sport as quoted by Football Italia.
“Congratulations to Spain for a really good performance. We could’ve been more clinical at times, but Spain deserved their victory.
“We always have enthusiasm, determination and running to the very end for Italy and our coach. It’s the first defeat, but this won’t stop our momentum and we look forward to the next match.
“Obviously, it’s tough down to 10 men and Spain were already playing well when we had 11. Nonetheless, we had two really big chances in the first half and then conceded an avoidable goal on the stroke of half-time which allowed Spain to come out after the restart feeling really comfortable.”
Chiesa would hopefully remain in top shape when he returns from the international break as Juventus looks to continue their fine run of form from before the break.
