Giorgio Chiellini has recalled one of the most famous moments of Euro 2020 that involved him grabbing Arsenal man, Bukayo Saka, by his shirt.
England faced Italy in the final of the competition, and in the last few minutes, Chiellini tried to kick a ball out of play, but Saka stole possession from him and headed for the Italian goal.
Streetwise Chiellini knew there was no way he could get the attacker, and he pulled the Englishman’s shirt to stop him.
He was given a yellow card, but it could have resulted in an England goal if Saka had gotten away.
Speaking about the incident again, Chiellini said, as quoted by The Daily Mail:
‘This became the symbol of Euro 2020 as a whole. The most heavily used meme of summer 2021.
‘It was probably one of the only mistakes I made during the Euros. It was in the 90th minute and I’d read the flight of the ball, thinking I could shepherd it out of play when really I could have controlled it.
‘But I was convinced I could put my body between Saka and the ball and let it go out of play, but he wriggled round me.
‘When he wriggled round from behind and had that space to run into, my reaction was to grab him. And I grabbed him good!’
Just Arsenal Opinion
Saka was an instrumental member of that England team before he missed the ultimate penalty that gave the trophy to Italy.
If he had beaten Chiellini, he may have produced some last minute heroics to hand England the trophy.
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