Andrea Pirlo today revealed that his audacious penalty against England was a reaction to Joe Hart’s exuberant movements on the line.
The midfielder scored with a cheeky spot-kick, chipped over Hart, in Italy’s 4-2 quarter-final shootout win to cap a magnificent individual display.
Pirlo said: “I saw the goalkeeper making strange movements, so I waited for him to move and hit it like that.
“It was easier for me to chip it at that stage. Maybe my effort put some pressure on England and Ashley Young missed the next one after me.
“I didn’t fear an upset as England barely created anything, just tried to defend and drag us to penalties. We stayed in control.
“We knew that we could control the match as England are a very defensive team and we saw that from the way they played throughout the group phase.”
Cesare Prandelli’s side now face Germany in a repeat of the 2006 World Cup semi-final, a game the Azzurri won after extra-time on their way to lifting the trophy.
“Is anything possible? Of course, that’s why we’re here,” said Juventus midfielder Pirlo. “We knew Germany would be our opponents if we qualified but now we have to concentrate and recuperate in time for Thursday.”
Alessandro Diamanti criticised England for trying to “pull a Chelsea” with the tactics Roy Hodgson adopted and believes Italy deserved to progress.
The former West Ham midfielder, who scored the decisive penalty, said: “England wanted to pull a Chelsea. They failed.
“We knew that they were going to wait for us and try to hurt us on the break but we came here to play our game. The penalties did justice.”
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Leonardo Bonucci says Wayne Rooney suffered from England’s defensive approach on a frustrating night for the Manchester United striker.
“Rooney was kept quiet by us but also by England’s tactics,” said the Italy centre-half. “He had to run back a lot and that tired him out. In terms of what was seen on the pitch, Italy certainly deserved to qualify as we played more, created more and were more of a team.
“The penalties can be a lottery but our keeper Gigi Buffon and the takers did well to keep their cool.”
Italy coach Prandelli said: “We showed a great spirit. We did very well against a great side, we had so many chances to score but we had to wait for the shoot-out.
“Let’s now enjoy this victory, then we will think about the match against Germany.”
