Some great footballers win everything with the club but do not raise trophies with the national team and Chiellini and his history of the 2020 European Championship teaches that this trend can be interrupted even at 37 years old. The strong blue defender, in fact, collects a myriad of Cups and Scudetti with Juve ; with the national team he lives, however, many negative experiences, among which we remember the 4-0 with Spain in the final of Euro 2012 and the failure to qualify for the 2018 World Cup . Giorgione was in serious danger of ending his career with zero titles with the senior national team, like football legend Paolo Maldini
. The Juventus defender, however, decides to play all out to put an end to this negative streak at Euro 2020 , probably his last great chance to redeem himself with the national team.
The start does not bode well, because the blue captain gets hurt in the second match against Switzerland and has to leave the pitch in the 24th minute due to a muscle problem. Fortunately, his injury is not serious and the defender returns to the match against Belgium , only to stay on the pitch until Italy’s final victory.
Chiellini History of the 2020 European Championship – Mancini’s journey with Italy
Chiellini plays in all the youth national teams and wins the Under 19 European Championshipin 2003. The debut with the senior national team came on November 17, 2004 , at the age of 20, when Marcello Lippi made him enter the second half in the friendly against Finland . The coach of Viareggio, however, does not call him for the victorious 2006 World Cup in Germany. After the aforementioned world championship competition, he returns to wear the blue with Donadoni and plays with all the coaches who follow one another on the blue bench.
In the aftermath of the historic elimination suffered against Sweden , which prevents Italy from taking part in Russia 2018 , King Georgeseriously consider leaving the national team. In the end he decides to continue and with Roberto Mancini he becomes the blue captain.
Euro 2020 qualifiers
The coach decides to bet on him and makes him play whenever he is available, giving him the keys to the Azzurri defense. In qualifying matches for the 2020 European Championships , Chiellini plays 4 games, all victorious, against Finland, Greece, Bosnia Herzegovina and Northern Ireland.
Nations League 2020-2021
For the Nations League 2020-2021 matches the blue captain takes the field on two occasions and, if he is well, he will most likely also take the field for the semifinal scheduled in October 2021 againstSpain.
Chiellini History of the 2020 European Championship – Euro 2020
During the course of Euro 2020, Chiellini proves to be a very difficult defender to overcome, who masters the aerial game and who does not tremble even when facing strikers of the caliber of Lukaku or Harry Kane , who in its parts do not pass. His injury worries the coach and the Italian fans and prevents him from playing against Wales and Austria ; when he recovers, however, he no longer leaves the pitch and leads, as always, the defense with authority.
In the first match against Turkey , Italyis the host and the Turks manage to shoot only once. Chiellini plays with great character and does not disdain to push forward to participate in the offensive phase; especially in the first half, as the Azzurri are unable to unlock it. On a corner kick, the captain hits his head and directs it well towards the opponent’s goal but goalkeeper Cakir performs a miracle and overall plays an excellent game.
The match against Switzerlandhe sees it as strenuous as ever. This time he puts the ball in the net but the referee cancels for a previous hand ball. When everything seems to have gone the right way, the muscle injury arrives and the captain has the wisdom to stop in time and ask for the change. If he kept playing, he probably wouldn’t be able to recover.
Due to the muscular problem, he is forced to miss the third round of the group and the round of 16 match against Austri a. He manages to recover for the quarterfinals against the very strong Belgium and it is lucky for his teammates to have him by their side. In doubt until the end, he takes the field with the aim of defusing Lukaku ; and he does it very well, since Big Romhe almost never manages to be dangerous, apart from a couple of actions at the start of the race. In the final, the opponents pushed with all their strength and he fought until the end, without conceding an inch to the Belgians and being one of the best in the field.
The match against Spain is the toughest of all, also because Luis Enrique ‘s move to exclude Morata and to include Olmo puts the Italian defenders in great difficulty; that the Spaniards are seen arriving from all sides. Despite this, the defense holds up even if both Chiellini and Bonucci on the Spanish draw by Moratathey get cut by a quick triangulation and lose their markings. Fortunately, however, Italy managed to win the final on penalties thanks to the last penalty with a jump from Jorginho.
At Wembley the final starts with an England goal at the start and Chiello , like all the others, has a few minutes of drift. After the initial shock, however, the captain regains control and makes the various Kane, Sterling, Sancho and Saka live a bad evening. The only one who escapes is the latter, who uses his rare distraction to aim for the door but Chiellini knows well that extreme evils must be resorted to extreme remedies and blocks him in an unorthodox way, as shown in the video:
Italy plays an attacking game and manages to win the draw in the second half. He continues to play better than the English and, on penalties, wins the second European in his history. The celebrations, the hugs, the tears of joy follow and at the end the blue captain raises the well-deserved cup.
