Generous Azzurrini accept their fate

Giorgio Chiellini put aside the disappointment of Italy's UEFA European Under-21 Championship exit – and his own part in their downfall – to praise the Azzurrini's conquerors, the Netherlands.

Crashing out
The title-holders were 16 minutes away from reaching the semi-finals as Group B winners before Chiellini's defensive flick deflected off the head of Netherlands winger Daniël de Ridder and into the net. The 1-0 scoreline, combined with Ukraine's subsequent deciding goal against Denmark, left Italy in third place and out of the tournament.

'Poor goal'
Juventus centre-back Chiellini said to uefa.com of the decisive strike: "It was a poor goal to concede from what was their first chance." However, he was magnanimous enough to add: "We have to accept the result and congratulate the Dutch. They are a good, well-organised side. They pushed us back and we never reached our level or put pressure on their midfield. Despite them controlling the game and having better possession, we could have drawn. But we have to accept the result."

'We deserve to be out'
Winger Alessandro Rosina echoed that sentiment. "We are out and maybe we deserve to be out, because in our most important match we did not play as we should have," he told uefa.com. "Saying that, the way we conceded the goal was a bit of a joke. We didn't underestimate them, but overall they did play better than us."

Praise due
Riccardo Montolivo, who had replaced suspended captain Marco Donadel in midfield, also paid tribute to the Netherlands, who will play France in Braga in the semi-finals. "Holland deserved to go through because we struggled, particularly in midfield, throughout the game," he told uefa.com. "We didn't want to play too deep but they forced us to do that."