Azzuris Chanting Leonardo Spinazzola’s Name On The Plane
Italy players chanted for teammate Leonardo Spinazzola on the plane after he left the pitch in tears during the 2-1 Euro 2020 quarter-final win over Belgium.
The Roma man has been one of the players of the tournament so far, rampaging forward from left-back with endless energy and winning the Man of the Match award on two occasions.
He was impressive again at the Allianz Arena on Friday night but pulled up as he chased after Thorgan Hazard in the second half.
At first it looked like a pulled hamstring but the former Juventus player quickly became overcome with emotion and was forced to leave the turf on a stretcher.
Not only will he not play again at the Euros, Spinazzola could be facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines after reportedly rupturing his achilles.
But on the flight home back to Italy, the Azzurri squad cheered up their colleague by singing his name.
In footage posted by Italy’s official Twitter account, Federico Bernardeschi took the tannoy and led the squad in chants of “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole, Spina, Spina”.
Minutes prior to suffering the achilles tendon injury, Spinazzola denied Romelu Lukaku an equaliser with a superb goal-line clearance that was celebrated by his fellow defenders.
read alsoItaly aiming to honour injured Spinazzola with Euro 2020 glory
Manager Roberto Mancini couldn’t hide his disappointment over one of his key players suffering a devastating injury.
Speaking post-match, the Italy boss said: “He’s been one of the best players of the tournament and we are so sad about what has happened, as it seems pretty serious.”
Former England striker Alan Shearer waxed lyrical about the 28-year-old on BBC’s coverage and described his injury as “a massive blow”.
He said: “We’ve highlighted him before and after games as he brings so much energy and brings so much to that Italy team defensively, as you saw with the goal-line clearance and also offering a threat the other end.”
Without Spinazzola, Italy will take on Spain in the semi-finals at Wembley on Tuesday.